Woman Survives Bear Attack

The claw marks on Ani Haas's chest show that she survived an attack by a bear!

"I remember thinking, 'This is it for you. This is how you die,' " recalled Haas.

Hass, a former member of the U.S. Ski Team, was jogging in the Lolo National Forest in Montana when she came across two black bear cubs and their protective mother.

"I started sprinting faster and I turned around and she was hot on my tail. And instinctively I thought, 'You're not going to outrun a bear.' So that's when I stopped and I turned around and that's when she lunged at me," said Haas.

Haas fought for her life. She actually punched the bear on the head.

"I made a fist and hit her on the head, kind of as blunt force and just tried to do it as hard as I could," said Haas.

Then she said she grabbed a rock and threw it at the bear. By some miracle, it backed away.

"I grabbed another rock and put it above my head and tried to be as non-aggressive as I could be and slowly back away and just get some distance between us," said Haas.

Despite the claw marks that now scar her body, Haas considers herself tremendously lucky.

John Cholmanack, a City Councilman from Bellevue, Washington lost an eye when a bear attacked him in his own driveway last year.

"I just vividly remember being bitten on the head and the sound that that makes," recalled Cholmanack.

And Elena Hansen was attacked by a black bear while working in the garden of her southern California ranch. It took two years and several surgeries to repair her face.

Now Haas carries a can of bear spray when she goes jogging. Wildlife expert Jack Hanna showed INSIDE EDITION how it works. He used bear spray to fight off a bear attack last year!

"I unloaded a blast and it went right in his face, he staggered backwards and then took off," said Hanna.

Haas said, "I'm so lucky that this was all. It could have been so much worse."