Rafter recovering from black-bear attack

Family members say Lou Downard, 78, was a bit tired Saturday, and his bandages needed to be changed every few hours, but otherwise he was in good spirits just 24 hours after being attacked by a black bear while on a river rafting trip in southeastern Utah with his family.

Downard was with eight other family members and four guides on a river rafting trip on the Green River through Desolation Canyon in Carbon County. On Thursday, the group found a spot near Rock Creek Ranch to stop for the night.

Between 6 and 6:30 p.m., a bear wandered into the camp area. The group was able to scare it away by firing a rifle into the air.

But just after midnight Friday morning, the bear returned. This time, it went after Downard, who was sleeping on a cot.

"It came along, and I was laying on my right side, and it got me there," Lou told KSL TV. "(I) yelped, 'Help! The bear's got me!' "

"It all happened so fast," Manual Downard told the Deseret News. "We chased the bear away once — hoped it was gone. (We) wanted it to stay gone. I guess it had other plans."

Other family members quickly came to Downard's aid, including his daughter, Becky Harvey. She jumped on the bear and hit it with her fists. After the bear let go of Downard, his 26-year-old grandson, Riley Downard, shot the animal in the back. It was able to run away from the campsite but was found dead the next day.

"My boy jumped in his tent, got ahold of the gun," Manual Downard said. "We weren't even going to take the gun, then we decided we'd better. Just a feeling, just precautionary."

Lou Downard was flown by medical helicopter out of the remote area about 4 a.m. The rest of his family was flown out later that morning.

Downard's torso was punctured and his arms heavily scratched, according to the DWR.

By Saturday afternoon, Downard was out of the hospital and resting at his daughter's house. Now that the adrenaline had drained out of his system, his family said he mostly just needed to rest.

"It was a tremendous thing that happened," Harvey said. "We'd like to get him well and back to normal. He's doing OK. We're keeping his bandages clean."

"I think I came out of it pretty damn lucky," Lou Downard told KSL TV.

The bear's carcass was recovered Friday afternoon and taken to a lab where it will be checked for disease on Monday.