Boy, 12, explains how he escaped ‘terrifying’ bear attack in his backyard
A 12-year-old boy says he had no choice but to fight back when a black bear charged at him twice in his own backyard, leaving him with puncture wounds to his hip.
Robin Westgate, from Bellingham, Washington, was attacked on the evening of September 13 after stepping outside to grab something for a snack.
He came face to face with a bear he didn't see coming, telling local news station KING 5 in an interview published on September 22: "Me and the bear startled each other."
What followed was a matter of seconds that Robin says came down to one instinct: survive.
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"It was fight or die. I didn't really have an option," he said.
Why did the bear attack the boy?
The bear, believed to be a mother, charged at Robin twice, clawing at him and leaving puncture marks near his hip.
Rather than freezing or trying to flee, Robin says he stood his ground, a decision he now credits with getting him through the encounter relatively unscathed.
"If you curl up or if you run away, you're probably going to die," he said. "If you fight, you have a better chance, so fight."
His father, Noah, heard the commotion from inside the family's Whatcom County home and ran out to help.
The bear's attention shifted onto him instead, and Noah was also injured in the process, though he later described the moment with a surprising sense of calm.
"Strange as it sounds, it was a feeling of relief to have her coming at me," Noah said. "She crunches into my hand right at the moment I land the hardest punch of my life."
Robin's younger sister, Riverley, heard the struggle from nearby and ran to get help.
Reflecting on the incident afterwards, she said: "I'm just glad I was outside with him and the injuries weren't worse." Robin himself described the ordeal simply as 'terrifying.'
How common are bear attacks in Washington state?
Both Robin and Noah were treated at a local hospital for their injuries.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed it received a report of the incident at around 11:30 a.m. local time on September 14, the morning after the attack occurred.
Locals in the area say this marks the second bear-related incident in the region in recent months, a pattern some residents have found unsettling.
Benjie Howard, who lives nearby and frequently walks his dog and rides his bike in the area, told KIRO 7: "I mean, we're in nature, but it is concerning because we haven't heard that recently or in the past - two in a month sounds like a lot? That's a lot, I would say. Wouldn't you?"
Howard added that he has also spotted other wildlife nearby, including mountain lions and bobcats, but said encounters like these are simply "part of being out in nature and being prepared."
Despite the frightening experience, the Westgate family says it won't change how they live or how they feel about their home.
Noah said he's proud of how his son responded under pressure: "I'm a proud papa that my 12-year-old son stood his ground against a black bear."
Robin, for his part, says the attack hasn't shaken his sense of safety in the area, but it has changed something else.
"Just because I got attacked doesn't change anything about the overall danger," he said. "The only thing that has changed is now I know I can trust myself."
Thomas Bamford