Man Mauled By Grizzly On Honeymoon Shares Chilling Final Message He Thought Would Be His Last

Warning: This article includes graphic images and videos that some readers might find upsetting or hard to view.

While enjoying what should have been a memorable honeymoon, Shayne Burke came terrifyingly close to death. He encountered a grizzly bear and was attacked so severely that he felt the need to record a goodbye message for his loved ones.

Very few people go through a bear attack and live to tell the tale. Shayne is now among the rare survivors who can say they faced such danger and made it out alive.

Since the year 2000, 38 people have lost their lives to grizzly bear attacks in North America. Out of those, six happened in Wyoming — which is where 36-year-old Shayne was visiting with his wife, Chloe Burke. The attack took place on May 19 of last year, during what was meant to be a peaceful trip.

But unlike others who have had such terrifying run-ins, Shayne, who is from Massachusetts, survived. Despite being bitten, slammed around, and mauled by a 300-pound bear, he was surprisingly only hospitalized for one day before being released.

The bear didn't manage to hit any major arteries. Shayne says he was 'super, super fortunate' because of that. Still, he did suffer a broken shoulder and loads of painful, deep cuts — but none of them became infected, even though he had to crawl away through rough terrain right after the attack.

Newly-weds Shayne and Chloe Burke were on their honeymoon exploring Wyoming last year Shayne Burke

Sadly, their honeymoon came to an abrupt end just eight days in. The couple had planned to tour several national parks throughout the western U.S., but that plan was cut short.

Shayne, who works with the U.S. Department of Defense, told Unilad: "I was up in the Tetons on my honeymoon, but it was more like an adventure trip - a three-week trip that my wife and I were on."

"So basically, we had done a little bit of research where we could locate what's called a great gray owl, which is a species of owl I've never seen in the wild. So I really wanted to and our research put us up on Signal Mountain."

The 36-year-old was exploring the Grand Teton National Park in hope of spotting a rare great gray owl when his near-fatal encounter took place Shayne Burke

He shared that after a short walk — about half a mile — his wife decided to head back to the car. Shayne chose to keep hiking a bit longer. After about an hour of exploring on his own, he decided it was time to go back and meet up with her.

Instead of following the trail the whole way around, he looked at his GPS and figured he could cut through the woods in a straight line to save time.

"So I opted to just, you know, beeline through the woods. As I was going through the woods I was making noise and trying to do things that would prevent an attack or situation where I run into a bear, but unfortunately, I was just moving really, really fast." he recalled.

"After a little while, I ended up, unfortunately, stumbling upon a grizzly cub. The cub was running away from me, my first response was to just take my bear spray out and get ready - just in case the mother was around."

"In the process of that happening, the mom made herself known, and she was only 15 feet at most away from me, and then it just all happened so fast."

Right after the terrifying incident, Shayne felt he might not make it out alive. So he pulled out his phone and recorded a message for his loved ones. You can watch the clip below:

As he recounted the brutal encounter, Shayne said: "As soon as I kind of locked eyes with her, she was almost on top of me, and so that's when I reacted in the defensive way - which is, get on your belly and lay down on the ground and try to play dead."

"She tackled me, biting my shoulder, breaking it. Then she started ravaging my legs and just biting me, biting me, and it was like, you know, picking me up, throwing me - but she never ripped chunks out of me like she could have."

"So after a while, when she was biting my legs, she went for my head, and because I was laying like this [with his hands and arms covering his head], and I still had the bear spray in my hand, she ended up biting the bear spray, my hand and my arm, which is what stopped the attack, because she bit the can."

As the grizzly went to bite Burke's head it bit down on the bear spray which in turn exploded in its mouth Shayne Burke

He went on to explain: "The can contents exploded all over her, all over me. She ran away towards the road - which was the direction I was going, and they were going as well. So I got up, looked at the direction she was going, and I just had the instinct to run the opposite direction."

"So I ran back into the woods further, because this attack happened only about 500 yards away from the road, and so I ran about 200 yards back up the mountain. You know, I had to crawl over fallen trees, under fallen trees, running straight up a hill."

According to Shayne, the National Park Service was unable to locate the bear after the attack. They did swab his wounds for DNA in case the same bear had harmed someone before. However, those test results are still pending.

Shayne believes he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He added that the bear wasn't being aggressive without reason — it was simply reacting the way any wild animal would to protect its cub.

"So, how do you survive a bear attack?" I ask Burke.

After the bear spray repelled the beast in an unconventional way, Burke crawled over and under fallen trees to get as far away as possible from it Shayne Burke

"Essentially, there are two things - the biggest thing that contributed, in my opinion, to my survival was doing my research on where I was and what I was doing, understanding the risks involved, getting to the areas - and the national parks do a really good job at informing visitors about the risks and how to react." Burke explained.

"So, essentially what I mean by that is, on the trailhead there's a big bulletin board, and it tells you, 'hey, there's bears here. If you get attacked, this is how you should react' - and I pretty much did that to a tee, and I'm still alive because of that, for sure."

"Having a deterrent - even though I didn't use it in the most traditional sense - I don't recollect whether or not I got to spray it at all, but having that with me, it did end up being what contributed to my survival."

Incredibly, Burke was only hospitalized for one day before being discharged Shayne Burke

He added one more point that he believes made a difference: "So that, and then just having some basic understanding of first aid and how to render care for yourself - because at the end of the day, you are your first responder."

When you're hiking in areas known to have bears, especially grizzlies, the National Park Service provides clear guidance on what to do if you find yourself in danger.

They highlight this critical advice: "Cover your head and neck with your hands and arms. Lay flat on your stomach, and spread your legs apart. Keep your pack on, it will help protect you during an attack."

"Stay still and don't make any noise - you're trying to convince the bear that you aren't a threat to it or its cubs. Do not get up right away because the bear may still be in the area. Wait several minutes until you are sure that the bear is gone."

Now, if you ever face a bear that’s not acting defensively — but instead seems to be stalking or attacking in a predatory way — the rules are different. In that case, the guidance says: "Fight back with everything you have."