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A grizzly bear attacked a 21-year-old Utah woman Wednesday in Alaska, sending her to the hospital with severe wounds on her face, head and body.
The nearly 8-foot-tall bear grabbed Abby Sisk's head in its jaws about 11 p.m. Wednesday and dragged her several feet from a dirt road near the lodge where she works, said Beth Ipsen, Alaska State Troopers spokeswoman.
"This is a very vicious attack," she said Thursday.
Sisk's mother said Thursday night from Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage that her daughter is recovering.
"She's doing really, really good," Tammy Sisk said.
A guest checking into the Kenai Princess Lodge in Cooper Landing witnessed the attack and chased the bear away.
Sisk was listed in critical condition at Providence Alaska Medical Center, a hospital spokeswoman said.
Abby Sisk's father Stanton Sisk, of Logan, said his daughter called him about 6 a.m. Thursday to tell him she was OK.
"Dad, I've been bit in the ass by a bear," Stanton Sisk recalls his daughter saying jokingly over the phone.
Stanton Sisk said the bear apparently tore a big part of his daughter's scalp off. She also has a broken jaw and puncture wounds on her arms, legs and buttocks.
Dan Michels, general manager of the Kenai Princess Lodge, said Abby Sisk was talking and joking Thursday.
"She is doing well," he said. "She is in positive spirits. She said, 'Tell my mother I finally got to see a bear.' ''
The "very huge" male bear attacked as Sisk was returning from a hike. She was walking between the lodge and the nearby Kenai River when the grizzly came out of the woods and pounced on her. It is unclear why it attacked, Ipsen said. Cubs were not seen in the area.
Sisk played dead, but when she got up after the initial attack the bear came at her a second time, her mother said.
A guest who had checked into the lodge and was moving his truck to the parking lot told authorities he heard what he thought was laughter, Ipsen said.
He then heard a scream and growling and saw the bear on top of Sisk.
The guest ''ran and screamed toward the bear," Michels said.
The bear looked up, paused and then ran away.
When state troopers arrived, Sisk was able to tell them her name and age. She was transported to Central Peninsula General Hospital in Soldotna and later taken to the hospital in Anchorage, where she underwent emergency surgery.
Sisk began working at the lodge in May as a housekeeping employee, Michels said. She is one of about 100 seasonal workers hired to work at the lodge, which sits on 46 acres of private property surrounded by state and federal land.
"She's a great kid and has an absolutely beautiful [singing] voice," Michels said.
Sisk grew up in Logan and graduated from high school there. She lived in Ogden for several months before taking the job in Alaska, her father said.
Bear sightings in Cooper Landing, about 100 miles south of Anchorage, occur frequently.
Another person was mauled by a bear in Anchorage only two weeks ago.
"I can't say bear maulings are rare," Ipsen said.
Authorities have not been able to track the bear.