Massachusetts veteran, 35, recalls terrifying grizzly bear attack - which thankfully ended when the animal made one wrong move

A disabled Army vet has detailed how he miraculously survived a grizzly bear encounter that saw him mauled in the Wyoming wilderness.

Shayne Patrick Burke, 35, suffered serious injuries as a result - revealing in a post to Instagram how he was in the 'wrong place at the wrong time'  when a mother grizzly bear attacked him Sunday.

The full-grown animal had been protecting her cub, he said - resulting in a vicious attack the combat veteran said  was the 'most violent' thing he's ever experienced.

He credited a can of bear spray with saving his life, administered as the beast was gnawing on his hands, legs, and the back of his neck, nearly ending him then and there.

But the ex-Army Reservist never gave up - keeping hold of the canister as she went in for the kill. How he made it out alive? 'As she bit my hands in the back of my neck, she simultaneously bit the bear spray can, and it exploded in her mouth,' he said.

Scroll down for video:  

Shayne Patrick Burke, 35, suffered serious injuries after being attacked by an angry mama grizzly Sunday - and revealed how he was in the 'wrong place at the wrong time' when the animal attacked. Pictured, him clutching a knife seconds after surviving the scare

The attack, he added, occurred on Signal Mountain - an isolated summit standing some 7,720 feet above sea level in Grand Teton National Park.

Once there for an hour in search of a Great Grey Owl to photograph, he had the ‘surprise encounter’ with the brown bear, he wrote online as he continues to recover.

'I was walking through a thick wooded area in a valley,' he wrote, revealing he had parted ways with his wife just before with plans of meeting again at a nearby parking lot.

'I over came[sic] a feature in the slope to my right and I noticed a brown bear cub running up a hill about 50-70 yards in front of me. I knew this wasn’t good.

'I unholstered my bear spray and saw the mother bear charging,' he continued.

'I stood my ground, shouted and attempted to deploy the bear spray but as I did she already closed the gap. 

'When she pounced[,] I opted to turn and give her my back and I laid down in the prone position on my belly and braced for the ride.'

He wrote how at this point, he was 'interlocking [his] hands behind my neck to protect my vitals,' with 'the first bite and slash [felt] on [his] back / right shoulder.

'I screamed,' Burke, who is from Massachusetts, wrote in a continuation seen in the post's comments. 

He credited a can of bear spray with saving his life, administered as the omnivore was gnawing on his hands, legs, and the back of his neck, nearly ending him then and there

'As she bit my hands in the back of my neck, she simultaneously bit the bear spray can, and it exploded in her mouth,' he said

That, he said, allowed him to make it out alive, with the bear leaving him  to apply improvised tourniquets to his savaged legs

The ex-Army Reservist never gave up, citing his grit as what kept him alive. He also said he didn't blame the bear, and chalked his ordeal up to just plain bad luck

'She then turned, stepping on my back. She bit one of my legs, picking me up and slamming me on the ground multiple times. [S]he bit each leg from my buttocks to my inner knee about three times each. 

'The final time,' he added, 'I screamed again.'

This, however, brought the bear's attention to his head, he wrote, leading to the almost fatal attack to his neck.

'I still had my hands interlocked and my arms protecting my carotid arteries,' he recalled. 'I never let go of the bear spray can.'

As the beast bit his hands in an attempt to get past them, she beat into the can. 

'This is what saved my life from the initial attack. I heard her run away, I looked up and instantly ran in the opposite direction up a hill.

'Once I put some distance between me and the bear, I attempted to call my wife,' he added, with photos shared in the post showing him covered in blood presumably seconds after the attack.

'It didn’t go through, so I texted “attacked”,' he went on.  

'She called me back and I told her what happened as I applied improvised tourniquets to my legs.'

He went on to call 911, staying on the line with the operator in hopes that a helicopter would hone in on his location.

'This is what saved my life from the initial attack. I heard her run away, I looked up and instantly ran in the opposite direction up a hill,' he said of the bear spray

'I still had my hands interlocked and my arms protecting my carotid arteries,' he recalled. ' I never let go of the bear spray can' 

He underwent emergency surgery, on a litany of lacerations seen in the photos above. The extent of his injuries was not immediately specified. However, officials said Friday he was in 'stable condition' and 'expected to fully recover'

'At this point I knew that I didn’t have any arterial bleeds and I just needed to slow the bleeding in my legs,' he wrote, with one photo showing him desperately gripping a hunting knife while spread flat on his back.

'I laid alone in the woods gripping my knife with my back to a tree just hoping the bear wasn’t to return,' he wrote of this, with wounds still fresh across his person.

'Through the phone call with 911 the helicopter was able to triangulate my location since the spotty service wasn’t giving us an accurate location. 

'At this point my legs were not really working,' he added - revealing how he was left hoping the bear wouldn't return.

As he continued to bleed, the helicopter took hours to zero in on his location.

'In this moment, I accepted on that small hilltop that I very well could die. I recorded a short video telling my people that I loved them,' he admitted.

But in a stroke of good fortune, the helicopter eventually arrived, transporting him to St John Hospital in Jackson a few miles away.

Pictured is a file photo of the Grand Tetons at Grand Teton National Park, north of Jackson Hole, Wyoming

There, he underwent emergency surgery, on a litany of lacerations seen in graphic photos that went up with the account. 

After investigating the incident, the National Park Service (NPS) said it would not attempt to capture or kill the grizzly, as the animals art typically only aggressive when threatened, especially when it comes to their young. 

In another excerpt of his account, Burge said nobody supports that decision more than himself, expressing understanding to the animal that came so close to claiming his live.

'I’ve thought long and hard about how I would share my story about my encounter with a female grizzly and her cub,' he posted, showing the scars as proof.

'Let me preface this with how much I love and respect wildlife. What happened up on Signal Mountain was a case of wrong place, wrong time.' 

Mother bears aggressively defend their offspring and remain with them for two to three years after birth. 

The decision not to pursue the bears, which officials determined behaved naturally after being surprised, was consistent with attacks that don't involve campsite raids, eating food left out by people, or similar behaviors that make bears more dangerous.

Citing the region's 1,000 or so bears, park rangers said they were not familiar with the ones responsible for the attack Sunday afternoon. Pictured: File photo of a grizzly bear 

Citing the region's 1,000 or so bears, park rangers said they were not familiar with the ones responsible for the attack Sunday afternoon.

As mentioned, the attack happened even though the victim was carrying bear-repellant spray and made noise to alert bears in the forest - showing the dangers of such an encounter.

An investigation into the incident, as of writing, remains ongoing. As for Burke, his recovery too remains ongoing. He did not specify the extent of his injuries, nor whether or not he has left the hospital.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Burke for comment. In an update aired this week, officials said was in 'stable condition' and 'expected to fully recover'.