2023-10-15 18:36:15
The bear attack occurred after Noorlander tried to help hunters locate a deer they thought they had killed.
Rudy Noorlander, who lost part of his jaw in a grizzly bear attack in Montana last month, says he hopes to receive a special gift as he prepares to leave the hospital.
“’That first root beer soda will taste amazing,’” the veteran Marine said in a thank-you letter read by his daughter, KateLynn Noorlander-Davis, at a news conference Friday at the University of Utah Health in Salt Lake City.
Noorlander, 61, underwent three surgeries in the past five weeks in the hospital after a bear bit his lower jaw off on Sept. 8 in the Custer Gallatin National Forest near Big Sky, Montana.
After a complete jaw reconstruction, Noorlander’s doctors and daughters say he is almost ready to join his family and dog, Sully, in Montana. The family says they hope he can return home this Monday.
“’Soon I will be a free-range chicken and not connected to anything,’” Noorlander said in the letter her daughter read.
Noorlander, who is still recovering from injuries, used a whiteboard and marker to answer questions at the news conference.
“It hurts him a little bit when he tries to talk,” Noorlander-Davis said.
He is expected to make a full recovery as he works to regain his ability to eat normally and speak, according to his surgeon, Dr. Hilary McCrary.
The bear attack occurred after Noorlander tried to help hunters locate a deer they thought they had killed, according to the family’s GoFundMe campaign.
His family said Friday that he was attacked on a trail he had traveled for the past two decades.
Noorlander encountered an adult grizzly bear and pulled out a gun to scare the animal when a larger bear approached him, the GoFundMe page said.
Noorlander was unable to fight off the bear and it bit off his lower jaw. The hunters he was helping scared the animal and called for help, according to the publication.
The attack was not Noorlander’s first experience with a bear. He shared on Friday that he also found one when he was 10 years old.
There is a chance that your most recent encounter may not be your last. “I will win the second round,” Noorlander jokingly wrote on his whiteboard.
“I wish he wouldn’t do that!” Noorlander-Davis, who described her father on GoFundMe as “the bravest, strongest man I know,” said while laughing.
His family and his life have given him hope and motivation during his recovery, said Noorlander, whose family noted that he has maintained a positive attitude despite what he has endured.
“He’s been competing with people in the hallways and we’re like, ‘Take it easy,’” Noorlander-Davis said.
She still didn’t want to talk about the attack and said she would eventually tell her story in a book, according to her daughters.
Ashley Noorlander said her father is already planning to get back to snowmobiling in December.
“We are very happy that he is alive and here,” she said.
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