A black bear fatally mauled a woman as she spoke with her father on a satellite phone and her 9-year-old son watched in horror from inside the family's lake cabin in Canada, according to Global News. Stephanie Blais, a 44-year-old mother of two, had been talking to her father about the waterline in the cabin when a black bear came up from behind and attacked.
The tragedy took place last week in a very remote part of Saskatchewan, police said.
"She called me to tell me that the water line hadn't been working and that her husband had fixed it. She then told her son, Eli, to run inside and grab an antenna," said the victim's father, Hubert Esquirol.
Esquirol told CKOM-AM that he heard "distorted gurgling sounds over the phone," and stayed on the line for a few minutes. He then said he hung up and tried calling again.
"The sounds were very disturbing. An attack crossed my mind, but attacks are one in a million," he said.
Esquirol, who shared the property with his daughter, learned of the attack when his daughter's husband, Curtis Blais, called him to tell him of the devastating news.
"He called me and told me that Stephanie had been attacked by a bear. He said the bear wouldn't let go, so he shot the bear until it let go," said Esquirol.
The husband was reportedly less than 100 feet away when the assault occurred and rushed to his wife's aid. He administered CPR, but despite his efforts, it was too late. She was airlifted to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Thirty minutes before the attack took place, the victim's son and daughter had been playing at their mother's feet, according to the Canadian Broadcasting Company.
A conservation officer with the Ministry of Environment Conservation allegedly shocked by the ordeal said an "unprovoked attack like this is very, very rare in most cases."
It has been nearly 40 years since a bear was last known to have killed a human in the area.
Additional reports revealed that the Buffalo Narrows, Saskatchewan cabin where the tragedy occurred is where the couple had spent their honeymoon.
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