Pittsburgh-area bear attack survivor speaks out from hospital bed

PITTSBURGH — A woman, who was attacked by a bear in Butler Township, spoke out from her hospital bed in Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

Lee Ann Galante, 55, recounted the experience few can say they’ve survived. It happened on Bellefield Drive in Butler Township.

“I didn’t want her to eat my baby,” Galante said through tears.

She was referring to her 7-year-old, eight-pound Pomeranian named Smoky.

She had let the dog out around 8:30 p.m. without knowing there were four black bears outside, a mama and her three cubs. She then heard the commotion, went back outside and saw the adult bear near her bird feeder that was knocked down.

“She came up behind me, and she pushed me down and my face went smack right into our cement pad we have on the step,” Galante said. “She had me down and she bit my arm, and she was on top of me. I thought – I thought I was gonna die.”

RAW: Victim speaks after being attacked by bear in Butler Township

She was yelling for Smoky to get inside during the attack and believes at some point the adult bear got distracted.

“I’m screaming ‘Someone please help me.’ I’m screaming at the top of my lungs. It was terrifying. I really thought that was gonna be it,” Galante said. “She was ready to charge again. Thank God we got in the house. I don’t know how it happened, because I really thought – we would both be dead.”

She was able to crawl across the kitchen floor to get to a phone and dial 911.

Galante’s doctors say she is lucky her injuries were not even more serious.

“She has a fair amount of puncture wounds on the back of her neck, on her arm itself and pretty significant tears or lacerations across her scalp. She also has several broken bones on her nose or face,” Allegheny General Hospital trauma surgeon Dr. Jennifer Chen said.

She said Galante is expected to make a full recovery. Galante is thrilled to hear that because she has a trip to Italy planned in a month and doesn’t plan on rescheduling.

“I gotta make it happen, even if I look like this,” she said.

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