BIG SKY — Last Monday, we reported a man was attacked by a bear while mountain biking alone on a trail near Ousel falls in Big Sky.
“It’s gonna be a long haul," said the man’s wife, Katie Scherfig. "There will be some surgeries that are gonna be many months down the road but we’re off to a really good start.”
Peter Scherfig was excited to get out for a bike ride on his birthday last week, while his wife Katie and grandson Carter stayed at home making him a birthday cake.
“We heard the sirens because we live just across the golf course from the medical center in Big Sky. And Carter loves sirens and so we looked out the window and watched the ambulance go into the medical center not having any ideas it was Peter in there,” said Katie.
Shortly after, Katie got the call from Joe Jacobs, the person who found Peter who had made it to the road from the trail.
“Peter tried to write in the dirt “bear” and then Joe got out a piece of paper for him and he wrote “bear” again and “can’t breathe” and wrote down my name and phone number,” said Scherfig.
Peter was flown to a hospital in Portland for surgery and treatment, injuries include broken bones in his face, jaw and ribs, but no internal injuries.
“They did some surgeries on Friday and everything went as planned. He’s in kinda a holding pattern now. They’re lightening up on his pain medication so he can become a little more alert and start breathing on his own.”
A family friend started a GoFundMe page that has raised over $63,000 to go towards Peter’s medical expenses.
Katie says she’s grateful for all the community support so far. “It makes me cry. It’s just overwhelming. I can’t believe that so many people have been so interested in wanting to help.”
If you would like to help, click here to visit the GoFundMe page.
FWP is not searching for the bear involved in the attack, as they believe it was a non-predatory event and the bear was simply surprised.
