The 61-year-old Navy veteran was attacked on September 8 in Big Sky, Montana. He was helping a group of hunters track down a deer when he was attacked by the grizzly bear. Noorlander had a bear club and rifle with him, but he did not have enough time to respond to the attack. The bear bit off a large part of its lower jaw.
The other hunters were able to scare the bear away and call 911. According to his daughter Katelynn, that is the reason her father survived the attack.
After emergency surgery, Noorlander was taken to the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City. There he underwent several operations in recent weeks, including a complete jaw reconstruction.
Noorlander recently appeared at a hospital press conference with his daughters Ashley and Katelynn and a surgeon. His daughters spoke, because Noorlander cannot yet talk. “Keep fighting even when there seems to be no hope,” daughter Katelynn said on behalf of her father. Noorlander himself occasionally communicated during the press conference by writing something on a whiteboard.
You can see images of the press conference below:
According to the surgeon, Noorlander is expected to make a full recovery. However, he will have to learn to talk again with the help of a speech therapist. To pay for (part of) his medical treatments, more than $64,000 was raised through a donation campaign.
2023-10-16 14:45:27
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