Attacked, then harassed in his camp by a bear, a man was rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter in Alaska on Friday, the latter said in a statement.
During their flight between Kotzebue and Nome, two towns in west-central Alaska, "the crew observed an SOS sign above a shed" at a miners' camp before a man waved to them at the ground.
"The crew then landed and came into contact with the individual who required medical attention after being attacked by a bear a few days earlier," they said.
The individual in question, injured in the leg and torso, was returned by helicopter to Nome for treatment.
Harassed every night
According to the latter, the bear that attacked him returned to the camp and harassed him every night for a whole week.
“At one point, the bear had dragged him down to the river,” one of the coastguards who was in charge of the rescue told The New York Times.
His friends had reported his absence after he did not return to Nome on the scheduled day.
Alaska, an American state crossed by the Arctic Circle, is home to black, polar and brown bears, including the Kodiak bear, considered one of the largest in the world. It is "not uncommon" for locals or visitors to "see bears, usually at a good distance," according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website. But even if you don't see them, "you'll never be far from one of them: Alaska is bear country," local officials warn.