In a terrifying story out of Lake Murray, Florida, a woman was attacked by black bears in her garage. The bears dragged the woman from her garage and mauled her. Amazingly enough, she survived.

Terri Frana went out to her garage on Saturday night where she got the surprise of her life when she found up to five bears going through her trash cans. One of the bears began attacking the woman, and according to Seminole County Sheriff’s Lieutenant Pete Brenenstuhl, the bears “dragged her from inside the garage out into her driveway.”

“The bear got up on [its] hind legs and started to maul her, opened its jaws and put her head in the mouth and dragged her towards the woods,” said Frank Frana, the woman’s husband. “Somehow she was able to pull herself out.” Frank said their son called 911 after his wife came inside and “collapsed on the floor.”

Frana was taken to the hospital to be treated for multiple bite wounds, cuts, and scrapes. She received 30 staples and 10 stitches in her head. Aside from being very shaken up and sore, Frana is otherwise fine. “She’s still pretty traumatized from it all, but it’s unbelievable she’s fine,” Frank said.

Since Frana says she saw up to five bears in her garage, authorities believe that it was a mother bear and her cubs. It’s not every day that we hear about a bear attack–let alone several bears attacking a woman and dragging her from her own garage–but Dave Telesco, the head of Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission’s bear program, says that it’s the right time of year for bears to be out looking for food.

“Now is the time to expect bears to show up looking for food,” said Telesco. “If they can’t find food in your neighborhood, they’ll move on.”

A bear suspected of leading the attack was found in the area on Sunday. After the bear demonstrated that it wasn’t afraid of humans, an officer shot it. Three other bears were also put down that were deemed to be a threat to people.

So, what should you do if you have an encounter with a black bear? If you’ve always heard that it’s best to pretend you’re dead in such a situation, police officer David Shultz says that is bad advice.

“One of biggest myths is play dead, don’t do that; they eat dead animals,” Shultz said. “If you see them, make a lot of noise from a safe distance. Never try to outrun, they will outrun, outclimb. Come in contact with one, you want to back up slowly and if he keeps coming at you just act as big as you can.”

In this past December, another Florida woman was attacked by a bear and lived. Read about that bear attack here.

Image via Wikimedia Commons