12-year-old from Wisconsin saves his father's life during bear attack

A Wisconsin father says he is lucky to be alive after being attacked by a black bear while hunting on September 6.

Ryan Beierman, 43, and his 12-year-old son Owen told the Minneapolis Star Tribune this week about their brush with death.

The elder Beierman said he was tracking an injured bear near his cabin in western Wisconsin when he happened upon the animal in a small clearing under an oak tree.

“He was in a position like a cat ready to pounce,” Beierman told the newspaper. “The next thing I remember, he was charging at me. He attacked me and knocked me down.”

Beierman told the outlet he couldn't remember how long he wrestled with the 200-pound bear.

“The bear was fighting for his life and I was fighting for mine,” he said.

He added that he probably wouldn't have survived without his young son. Beierman said Owen shot the bear with his hunting rifle.

“I was flat on my back and felt the bullet go through the bear,” Beierman said. “Owen was a hero. He shot the bear and killed it on top of me.”

Beierman suffered a large cut to his face, as well as additional cuts and punctures to his forehead, right arm and right leg, the Star Tribune reported.

Neighbors helped Beierman get to a nearby hospital — he was eventually intercepted by an ambulance — and the father of two needed 23 stitches in his cheek, he told the outlet, and another row of stitches on his right arm.

“I was proud of Owen,” he told the newspaper. “He really pulled himself together. But when it was all over, you could see he was pretty shaken.”

The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources confirmed the Beiermans' story to the Star Tribune and said the father-son hunt was legal.

Finally, Beierman told the newspaper that he told his wife Ali that he was “done” with bear hunting.

“When we got back home to River Falls (Wisconsin), I told my wife I was done with bear hunting,” he said. “Now I don't know what I mean, but she'll say something about it. It was a wild ride. It was a hell of a night, to say the least.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com.