Hero neighbors in Canada's 'Polar Bear Alley' save a man and woman who were mauled in an early morning attack

• Woman returning from a Halloween party was attacked by a polar bear
• Screams woke up neighbors who attempted to scare the bear away
• Another elderly resident was also attacked as he hit the bear with a shovel
• Teenager with a rifle and pickup truck scared the bear away
• Both attack victims will survive

By James Gordon

Published: 01:39 EDT, 4 November 2013 | Updated: 12:36 EDT, 26 November 2013

It was still the early hours of the morning when Bill Ayotte was woken up by the screams of a woman who was being mauled by a polar bear outside his home in Churchill, Manitoba.

The 69-year-old retired tour guide and lifelong resident of the town, on the shores of Hudson Bay in northern Canada, heard the commotion at 5 a.m.

He rushed out to find a polar bear attacking a 30-year-old woman on his deck.

What he did next likely saved the woman’s life, but in doing so, he ended up putting himself in mortal danger.

Woken: Erin Greene woke up the entire neighborhood in Churchill, Manitoba as she was being brutally attacked by a polar bear

Saved: Erin Greene was rescued by a quick-thinking resident, Bill Ayotte who grabbed a shovel and began striking the poliar bear over its head

Mr Ayotte grabbed a shovel and began clubbing the bear over its head.

The tactic worked. The bear released its grip on the back of the woman's head, but then turned its attention to him.

By now the shouting and screaming had woken up the entire neighborhood.

That's when 18-year-old Didier Foubert-Allen, who also heard the commotion sprang into action.

Dressed only in his underwear in sub-freezing temperatures, Mr Foubert-Allen ran outside and onto his deck armed  with his rifle and began aiming at the polar bear. He ended up firing 18 shots, two of which struck the animal.

‘I saw this bear just pounding on Bill, knocking him around like nothing, so I ran back inside, grabbed my shotgun and a box of shells and started shooting above the bear trying to scare it off,’ he said.

Dangerous: There have been very few polar bear attacks in the town in the last 50 years but the bears get hungry around this time of year before Hudson Bay freezes when they can reach seals for food

Late night attack: Erin had been returning from a Halloween party before she was attacked by the bear

As he fired from his deck at the polar bear, two of the bullets struck the animal but it barely flinched.

In the panic and with Mr Ayotte still in grave danger, Mr Foubert-Allen decided to get into his truck and drive the car to his next door neighbors’ house to scare the bear away

'I was five feet away from this bear, honking the horn, turning on the high beams and it suddenly stopped and ran up the road. It was almost an instinct. I knew that if the bear attacked the truck, it would get off of Bill,’ he said.

Mitch Paddock was another local who saw the chaos that was going on.

‘I didn’t know it was my neighbour at the time. It was just a guy on the ground,’ he said.

‘He was on his back, the bear was right on top of him with both paws.’

‘It was dragging him around,’ Mr Paddock said. ‘It was pouncing on him. That’s what polar bears do. They take both their paws and they kind of smash. He was kind of jumping on Bill’s chest.’

Mr Paddock said he raced into his house and up the stairs to grab a shotgun that fires cracker shells, which are designed to scare wildlife by shooting fire crackers. He said many people in Churchill have them.

The bear was eventually shot and killed by officers with Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship. Not long after, a second bear with a cub in tow was shot and killed. The young bear was tranquillized and captured.

Hero: The bear turned on Bill Ayotte and it was left to 18-year-old Didier Foubert-Allen, to grab his shot gun to try an scare the animal away

Hunter: In a desperate attempt to save both Bill and Erin, Didier fired off some 18 shells from the deck of his house before jumping in his car to scare the bear

Close-knit community: Didier said that he could see the attack happening before his eyes as he watched from the deck of his own house

Mr Ayotte, 60, first tried to save the 30-year-old woman by hitting the bear on the head with his shovel (pictured), and when it turned on him he in turn was saved by neighbour Didier Foubert-Allen

Mr Ayotte suffered serious lacerations to his face, stomach and ear, while the woman, identified only as Erin by a friend, suffered deep gashes to her head and arm.

Both were flown by air ambulance to Winnipeg and are being treated at the Health Sciences Centre.

They are listed in stable condition, Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

‘She owes (Ayotte) her life,’ said Alex de Vries-Magnifico, 27, who spoke to Erin just before she left the Churchill Health Centre for Winnipeg.

‘I briefly saw her, and she smiled and said, 'that crazy bear tried biting my head off.' ‘

Erin Greene, a native of Montreal, has been living in the northern Manitoba town for a couple of years.

She had just left a Halloween party in the early hours of Friday morning when the bear suddenly appeared.

Her friend, Mr De Vries-Magnifico, said Erin described moments of sheer terror as the bear ‘threw her against the wall of Mr. Ayotte's house, bit her in the back of the head and in her arm before Ayotte came out and started beating the bear in the head with a shovel.’

Doug Webber was another resident who witnessed the horrific sight and didn’t give a second thought about rushing over to help.

‘The bear attacked a girl right outside our house, and our neighbour, Bill Ayotte, came out to try to scare the bear off,’ he  said. ‘He managed to do that long enough for the girl to get into Bill’s house, bleeding from the head, but then Bill got attacked by the bear.

‘That’s when I woke up and went to the window and saw the bear kind of chewing on Bill. I went running out to help, and then a bunch of other people ran out, and two boys managed to scare the bear off. Then we put Bill in a pickup truck and took him to the hospital, and the ambulance came and took the girl to the hospital.’

Neighborly help: Doug Webber was another resident who saw the attack happening before his eyes. He rushed over to help Bill Ayotte who was severely injured

Scared: Residents are shaken by the attack.There have only been a handful in the past 50 years

Adilia Shields, who works for Canada Post in Churchill, said she watched the ordeal through the front window of her home on Selkirk Street.

‘I actually didn't realize there was a person underneath the bear until I saw a hand waving,’ she said. ‘I panicked and started crying.

‘It's a miracle he's OK. I'm still in shock.’

Ms Shields said a ‘a kid’ did everything he could to try and get the bear away from the man being attacked.

‘He had no clothes on, but he got in his car and tried to get it out of the way. He’s a hero.

Be alert: Mayor of Churchill, Michael Spence, says people in the community need to be aware and on the lookout for possible polar bears at this time of year when the animals are hungry and searching for food

Churchill Mayor Michael Spence said residents are shaken by the attack.There have only been a handful in the past 50 years.

‘Thank God they're going to survive,’ he said. ‘It's very traumatic. The people who witnessed it are having a hard time dealing with it.

‘But that's just how it is in this community. We co-exist with bears; they're coming through the area, waiting for the ice to form. This is one of those challenges that we, as a community, are faced with.’.

Mr Spence said that until the weather turns cold and the polar bears head off onto the ice pack, residents must be extra vigilant when venturing outdoors.

‘There can never be enough education in terms of people being cautious,’ he said. ‘We always tell people to be cautious, be alert, and a lot of local people are very careful, because you get bear-smart. But it happens; you can be as smart as you want, and sometimes you’ll come around the corner and there they are.’

Erin Greene has since been released from hospital over the weekend after receiving treatment at a hospital in Winnipeg.