Woman Mauled By Bear Struggles To Get Her Health Insurance

This Twitter user shared Hansen’s story and it has enraged people

The woman had to undergo hours of emergency surgery and days of reconstructive medical procedures

Rachel shared the screenshots of Hansen’s answers about the most difficult part of recovery

These were the questions Reddit users asked the survivor in ‘Ask Me Anything’ thread

Here’s the rest of the thread where Allena shared details about the incident

Here are some more questions and answers from this AMA session

Allena Hansen was walking on her property in the wilderness when a bear attacked her in 2008. Hansen described the ordeal in gruesome detail: “I found myself down on the ground. I heard, ‘Chomp, chomp, chomp.’ I felt it go through my skull. I felt it bite through this eye.” As if it was a miracle, her two dogs, Decoy and Arky, came to the rescue. As soon as their barking distracted the bear, the woman found some strength to escape.

Dr. Kimberly Lee from the UCLA Medical Center was part of a surgical team that put Hansen back together in a 10-hour emergency surgery. “She had an indentation of the bone where the bear’s claw tore through her face,” reported Dr. Kimberly Lee. As horrible as it sounds, it was just the beginning of the woman’s dreadful misery.

The woman turned to writing and told her story in a memoir

It could have been a fresh new start for the brave woman, but her health insurance provider didn’t cover dental, optical, or cosmetic—the major injuries she suffered. One subreddit user asked Hansen if she ever felt like giving up at some point and the answer was heartbreaking. “No, I didn’t ever feel like giving up during the ursadent itself. But there were many times during my recovery when Blue Cross denied service. I was saved from my existential angst by the kindness of strangers.”

Luckily, the woman kept her sense of humor during the harsh times and published a memoir called Chomp Chomp Chomp. Considering everything she had (and still has) to go through, one can’t help but remember: that which doesn’t kill us really does make us stronger.