9-year-old helplessly watches mother getting fatally mauled by black bear

A trip to the family cabin in the woods came to a horrific end for the Blais family as Stephanie Blais became the victim of a fatal black bear attack on Thursday, August 20. Her husband, Curtis Blais, and children Uma Blais and Elie Blais, were in the cabin when she was attacked in Saskatchewan, Canada. Elie reportedly witnessed the incident while his grandfather, Hubert Esquirol, heard the attack as he was on the phone with Stephanie. The husband drove away the bear, but even though the victim was taken to a hospital she succumbed to her injuries.

Stephanie had called her father to talk about the waterline of the cabin the family has owned for 35 years at McKie Lake, near Buffalo Narrows. She was outside the cabin with Elie when she asked the nine-year-old to go in and get her the satellite antenna for better reception. As the child went into the cabin, the woman was grabbed by the bear from behind.

Curtis was alerted by the horrific noise of the attack. He tried to help his wife but the bear was determined not to let go. He shot the animal multiple times until it finally retreated into the woods.

According to 650 Ckom, Esquirol heard distorted sounds before his daughter became silent. He waited for her to respond but she remained silent. The call got disconnected and he called her back after a few minutes but it went unanswered. Around 10 minutes later, Curtis called to inform him that Stephanie had been attacked by a bear.

According to CTV News, Esquirol contacted a friend who is a seaplane operator. The friend helped evacuate the injured woman from McKie Lake to Buffalo Narrows. She was taken to a hospital but her injuries were too severe for her to recover.

The grieving father shared that Curtis is doing his best to care for the children. He pointed out that two-year-old Uma is too young to understand that her mother is not coming back. A GoFundMe has been set up by the victim's cousin to help the family financially.

Stephanie's death is the first fatal bear attack in Saskatchewan since 1983 even though the family had taken precautions to keep bears away from the cabin. A conservation officer told the family that the bear was not hungry as its stomach was full of berries. The attack on the woman was entirely unprovoked.