Man suffers huge facial injuries after a bear attacked him in his kitchen [photos]

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A man who was attacked by a bear in Colorado has been speaking out about the harrowing encounter which left him with lacerations across his face and neck.

Dave Chernosky, 54, heard a noise coming from the downstairs of the Aspen home he and his family were staying at, early on Friday morning. 

'I was asleep and heard something in the kitchen. And I just kind of laid there thinking, "Okay, something's wrong,"' Chernosky told Good Morning America.

'So I went to the kitchen, saw the bear there. He was already in the fridge and cupboards and stuff like that.'


'My kids were in the basement, so I wanted to make sure he stayed upstairs,' he said.

Chernosky described the bear as being dark brown in color but close to 450lbs in weight.

Fearing for his family's safety, the dad-of-two tried coaxing the black bear into the garage.

However, when he hit the garage door opener to let it out, the bear panicked and ran back inside the home and began attacking him.

'I literally thought I might be dead,' he said to ABC11. 'It felt like a brick hit me in the head.'

'As soon as we looked at each other, he just smacked me with his paw one time… and after I got out of the way and started yelling, he left,' said Chernosky.

He was left with severe cuts on his face and neck after the attack.

'Luckily, the bear wasn't really after me,' he said with some relief.

Chernosky quickly called 911.

'A bear came in here and he hit me with his paw so I'm bleeding,' he told operators.

Chernosky ended up being taken to Aspen Valley Hospital and then transferred by ambulance to St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction.

He had to have stitches placed along his cheek, jaw, ear and back. Overall, he is expected to make a full recovery.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife area manager Matt Yamashita said officers responded to the incident at about 3am and are investigating how the bear managed to get in.

Officials with the department say they were able to find the bear and euthanize it.

It's the second bear attack in the last couple of days.

On Saturday morning, a woman was attacked by one near Manitou Springs, which lies about 80 miles south of Denver.

The wildlife officers caught the bear near the scene of the attack using trained hounds.

It was then put it down in what was described as ‘humane’ euthanasia.