🚨WOW!!!
A 12-year-old boy in Washington was attacked by a BLACK BEAR in his own backyard...
...and he fought back with his BARE HANDS until his dad could get to him.
He survived and said, "it was either fight or die, if you fight you have a better chance, so FIGHT!"
His name is Robin Westgate, from Bellingham, Washington.
On Sunday night, Sept. 13, Robin finished dinner with his family and ran out to the backyard fruit orchard to grab a popcorn bowl.
That's when he and the bear startled each other.
"It was fight or die. I didn't really have an option."
She charged him. TWICE.
She clawed his side, left puncture wounds on his hip, and bit down on his wrist.
But Robin knew exactly what to do. Bears are common in his neighborhood, and he had been TAUGHT what to do if he ever met one:
"If you fight, you have a better chance, so fight."
So he fought.
He punched.
He screamed.
And he drove his thumb straight into the bear's eye.
Then his dad Noah came running.
The bear turned and charged a THIRD time, this time at Dad.
Noah says it was actually a relief to have her coming at him instead of his son. 😭
He went into what he calls "code red" mode, protecting his boy the same way that mama bear was protecting her cub.
"She crunches into my hand right at the moment I land the hardest punch of my life."
And the bear RAN.
His little sister, Riverley heard her big brother screaming and ran for help.
Robin and his dad were both treated at the hospital and sent home.
And Robin's takeaway is that he says the danger from the bears hasn't changed.
The only thing that changed is that now he knows he can trust himself.
Dad says he's a proud papa.
He should be.
What an incredible kid. 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸