Cummings and his wrestling teammate at Northwest College in Powell, Brady Lowry,
were attacked by a grizzly bear Saturday afternoon outside Cody. The two survived but suffered serious injuries from the angry bruin.
The bear first attacked Lowry, but Cummings, an Evanston native, jumped into action to pull him off.
“I grabbed and yanked him hard by the ear,” said Cummings, a sophomore.
Cummings successfully got the bear’s attention. Backing up as the predator reared up toward him, he described the sensation of the bear’s putrid breath filling his nostrils and himself with a sense of dread.
Attacked Again
The bear charged at Cummings with surprising speed, immediately knocking him to the ground. After a short while in the grip of jaws, the bear left him. Cummings’ thoughts were not on his own injuries, but rather that the bear would attack Lowry again. It was when he stood up to look for his teammate that the bear attacked again.
“I called out to Brady to make sure he was alright and I think the bear heard me,” Cummings said. “It kind of circled around and got me again.”
Cummings said he fought back against the bear at first, but it quickly became apparent it would be a fruitless endeavor.
The bear eventually stopped its attack, and Cummings lay still for a few minutes after, hoping to avoid a third encounter.