School caretaker viciously attacked by bear fought off beast by biting its tongue
Nikolay Irgit, 35, says he was convinced he was going to die after a bear mauled him (Picture: The S..
A man claims to have miraculously fought off a raging brown bear, by biting off its tongue.
Nikolay Irgit told how he bit back in a desperate bid for survival, convinced he would be eaten alive.
Mr Irgit claims the half-ton predator ambushed and mauled him in the mountainous Tuva region in southern Siberia, police said.
After hearing a horrific roar, he claims to have ripped off the wild animals tongue with his teeth and spat it out.
Speaking out about the ordeal for the first time, the dad-of-three showed horrific wounds to his head and arm after being hailed a hero in Russia.
The 35-year-old, who was searching for deer and elk antlers to sell on the black market with two friends, said: When I saw the bear, at first I froze in horror.
I didnt have any weapons, not even a knife.
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I began to scream, I thought it would not attack. But the bear charged towards me.
I managed to punch him in the face, but he pounced and knocked me off my feet.
A police report read: The bear knocked him down and started biting.
At the moment, when the bear clasped his teeth on Irgits face, he managed to bite off a part of bears tongue, which is why the bear stopped the attack and fled.
After surviving the attack, he says he went home and faced the wrath of his 25-year-old wife, who was angry that he had put himself in jeopardy by going into a remote forest.
In his first interview after being released from hospital, he said: I was very scared. I thought that it was the end.
At some point in the struggle, I stopped caring if I lived or died.