A SEVEN-YEAR-OLD boy and a dog with three legs fought off a 20-stone bear that attacked the boy's mother on a Romanian hillside and clamped its jaws round her neck.
When the bear appeared, Petre Prundaru ran off and hid behind a tree, but his mother, Anisoara, 40, slipped and fell. When the boy saw the bear grab her by the neck, he picked up a stick and charged it.
His pet dog, Cotonogu, also went for the bea
r and the animal ran off.
Petre then managed to find a shepherd, who called emergency services. His mother was taken to hospital, where she was treated for cuts.
A hospital spokesman said: "Most people who are attacked by bears and get close enough to be bitten don't live to tell the tale."
Mrs Prundaru said the attack happened in broad daylight in the Carpathian mountains.
She said: "We were gathering sticks for firewood when suddenly our little dog, Cotonogu, started to growl, and then out of the bushes came this enormous bear. I stepped backwards and tripped over and shouted at Petre to run.
"Then the bear came and started sniffing me and scratching and biting me. I couldn't move – I was terrified – and then it opened its mouth and put it round my throat.
"I could feel its breath and its teeth and then I heard Petre and my dog shouting and barking, and the bear was gone. I can't believe I survived."
