Summer Myomick bundled her baby against the freezing winds whipping off the Bering Sea and stepped outside into a blur of blowing snow. It was a short walk from the school where she had visited relatives to the health clinic about 150 yards away, but she could hardly have seen where she was going — or the terror that was approaching.
The mauling stopped temporarily, but only when the animal turned on them, and they rushed back inside. Principal Dawn Hendrickson slammed the door in the face of the charging bear, possibly saving lives, according to Susan Nedza, chief administrator of the Bering Strait School District. It appears the mother and toddler had no idea what was coming because of low visibility, Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Austin McDaniel told The Associated Press on Thursday.
Nedza, the school district chief administrator, said she received a call from a distraught Hendrickson just after 2 p.m. Tuesday. She said the students were locked down and safe. Samples from the bear were taken for the state veterinarian, and the bodies of Myomick and her son were flown to Nome for eventual transport to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Anchorage.