Boston

71-Year-Old NH Woman Mauled by Bear: ‘He Just Let Me Have It'

It's been exactly one month since a 71-year-old New Hampshire woman came face to face with a bear in her kitchen.

That woman is still in rehab at a facility in Bedford. She spoke with NBC10 Boston between appointments Friday.

Apryl Rogers always considered herself a strong woman, but her strength was never tested the way it was last month when she woke up in the middle of the night to find a black bear rummaging through the kitchen in her Groton home.

"I just froze, I didn't know what to do," she said.

Rogers, who uses a wheelchair, says she had no other choice than to sit right where she was.

"All of a sudden, he just let me have it," she said. "He just grabbed my whole face and pulled it down."

Hours after the attack, her kitchen looked like a crime scene. There were shattered glass, claw marks and a trail of blood from Rogers making her way to the phone to call 911.

"I just thank God every day I am here," she said.

Rogers suffered broken bones in her face and a fractured vertebrae. Her left eye was so badly damaged, she had to have it removed.

"I'm not going to let it get me down," Rogers said with a laugh.

Rogers says she's happy to hear that authorities haven't yet caught the bear, because she doesn't want to see it euthanized.

"The bear was just being a bear," she said.

Rogers says she's looking forward to going home.

Contact Us