Woman Who Survived First Known Bear Attack in Maryland Thought She Was 'Gonna Die,' 911 Call Reveals

iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) —  A 63-year-old Maryland woman who survived a bear attack thought she was “gonna die,” according to newly released audio of the 911 call she made.

“He’s broken my arms and my legs,” Katherine Osborne can be heard saying on the call obtained by ABC News.

“I can’t move, and I’m bleeding and I’m gonna die,” she adds. “Please hurry…Oh my God, here he comes.”

 The attack happened around 9 p.m. on Nov. 16 on the “long, windy driveway” of Osborne’s daughter’s home in Frederick, Maryland, according to Paul Peditto, director of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources’ Wildlife Service. Osborne is believed to be the only person in the state of Maryland to have survived a bear attack.

Osborne had been going down the driveway to check on her daughter’s dog, who was barking, when a 200-pound black bear “suddenly blindsided her, knocked her to the ground and attacked her,” Peditto told ABC News. He said that the bear likely attacked Osborne because it mistook her as a threat to her three cubs that had been nearby at the time.

Osborne “did try to fight against the bear until the point where she was physically unable to continue,” Peditto said. “Then she laid on the ground — hoping the bear would give up — and called 911.”

First responders arrived on the scene within 10 minutes and transported her to a nearby hospital, according to Peditto. Osborne suffered a broken arm and had bite wounds on her head and torso that required almost 80 stitches.

“She nearly died,” Peditto said. He added that this was the first known bear attack on a human in Maryland.

The bear was located and euthanized the following morning by Maryland DNR Wildlife Service staff.

 “It’s never easy to intentionally kill an animal, but the public safety risk the bear imposed outweighed trying to keep it alive on the landscape alive,” Peditto said. He added that Maryland DNR Wildlife Service staff determined that the bear’s cubs were old and healthy enough to survive without her.

Osborne was listed in good condition today at Meritus Medical Center in Hagerstown, Maryland, a Meritus Health spokesperson told ABC News today.

Osborne’s family did not immediately return ABC News’ requests for comment on the incident.

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