Bear Attack Victim Recounts How He Survived

Imagine going for a walk at home and a bear bites you on the head.

It happened to a city councilor in Bellevue, Wash., just outside Seattle. And three weeks later, he is telling the world how he survived.

"Early Show" co-anchor Erica Hill reported John Chelminiak spoke to reporters from the Seattle hospital where he is still recovering from the wounds he suffered.

Hill said, "The details he provided are just chilling. (He made) it clear that he's lucky to be alive."

Frantic 911 Call of Bear Attack Victim's Wife

His head covered in bandages, an IV drip in tow and with the scars of five surgeries and a bear attack, Chelminiak recounted the tale few get to tell.

He told CBS News, "It was just a horrendous fight."

On September 17, Chelminiak, his wife Lynn and their 11-year-old daughter Megan arrived at their mountain cabin at Lake Wenatchee in Washington State. Chelminiak went to take the family dogs for a walk. But he didn't get far before there was big trouble.

Chelminiak said, "I heard the brush on the side of the road rustle and the next thing I heard was the exhale of the bear. I just vividly remember being bitten in the head and the sound that that makes as her teeth were going into my head and running along my skull."

As vicious attack ensued, Chelminiak's instincts told him to just keep fighting to stay alive.

He said, "I felt that if I went down on the ground and I got turned over on my back and she had the chance to go for either my neck or my abdomen, I was dead, so what I wanted to do was stay up."

Hill added Chelminiak got in a good hit when he saw the bear lunge for him and he kneed him.

Through it all, he managed to stay up until the bear just stopped.

Chelminiak struggled back to his driveway, where Lynn heard him yell for help and she called 911.

Cheminiak said, "I knew that a lot of flesh had been torn off of me, and I just wasn't sure how I was going to make it."

He made it by being transported to Seattle and Harborview Medical Center where doctors had to reattach parts of his scalp, and remove his badly damaged left eye.

One of Cheminiak's doctors, Dr Matt Klein, a surgeon at Harborview Hospital, said, "He has a wonderful spirit, he has a wonderfully supportive family, and we know these things are very very important in helping people recover from traumatic injuries..

As for the bear, it was shot and killed by the Department of Fish and Game.

Chelminiak is facing several more surgeries, including one Thursday morning. He says that he is eager to get out of the hospital, and back to work as a city councilman in Bellevue, Wash.