Worst Case Scenario with Abi Clarke and Julia Stenton - Day 9 - Colin Dowler

Episode Date: July 19, 2023

Hiking alone, Colin Dowler reachers the target of his route and overall it's a successful day out... until he gets back to his bike to ride home, to find in his path a huge Grizzly bear.The Grizzly attacks, almost causing Colin to bleed out, suffer permanent nerve damage, and leaves psychological scars. The ordeal is enough to make most of us stay inside and avoid the outdoors ever again but Colin isn't like most of us, and this episode of Worst Case Scenario is his story.Take the bear quiz mentioned in this episode to see what type you are here!Send in tales of survival from your own worst case scenario to [e-mail] and don't forget follow the podcast on Instagram @wcspod to see pictures mentioned by Abi and Julia on this episode and all episodes so far.Theme tune by the brilliant Crizard who can be found on Instagram @crizards Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Get attacked by an angry shark Stuck up a mountain in the dark Pushed off the top of a big landmark Hit by lightning in your local park Caught in a downpour of acid rain Struck by meteor or a tray A proton beam passing through your brain Attacked by that angry shark again

Hear how they survive Trappled by a herd of buffalo Chaste with an axe by your new friend Joe Burried alive in a pile of snow It's the worst case scenario. Hello. Hi. Welcome to Worst Case Scenario. The podcast where we tell survival stories

of people who found themselves in terrible situations. Did you see how I resisted repeating the title there? You did. It would have been too repetitive. And survive to tell the tale. We're using their stories to build our own survival toolkit. So we can also one day survive the same traumatic. scenarios we will obviously find ourselves in.

Yeah, we're going to come much more adventurous. Yeah. Try all these things and we'll be prepared. Be prepared. Rest in peace. Can't believe it didn't make to the live action movie. Okay. A scar song, no, I think.

Oh, sure. How are we friends? I truly don't know sometimes. Do you want to see what I saw in the news? Yeah. It's another woman. something like you know the headline like woman did it okay go on mine is woman stranded in Australian bush for five days survives by drinking wine well okay so she's just got a backpack full

of wine um Lillian 48 had of course she's called Lillian Lillian has got mugs at home that say this isn't coffee it's wine And in this case, it was. Lillian 48 had set off on holiday and was driving through dense brushland when she hit a dead end and realized she had taken a wrong turn. But while trying to turn around, her car became bogged in mud. With no mobile coverage, she was unable to call for help. And I think what it said was, yeah, so.

She did like a booze cruise. So Lillian, who does not drink. Oh. was off her tits when the emergency services arrived only had a bottle of wine which she had planned to give us a present and some sweets she used the car's heater to keep warm overnight after five days emergency services spotted her car as they flew over the area she was taken to hospital and treated for dehydration doesn't what isn't wine a diuretic doesn't make you more dehydrated than if she hadn't have drunk the wine maybe it just made her five days more enjoyable watching the sunset glass of wine maybe you just kind of like chilled her out um she says asked how the wine tasted she swore and added i thought i was going to die out there my whole body shut down on friday first thing that came to mind was water and a cigarette it's a legend till we earn um should we tell a story another one

oh yeah oh yeah um if you if you're enjoying this podcast so far um please do follow us if we haven't personally offended you yet apology yeah a nice edition of the yet julia that's that's clever forward thinking um yeah you can follow us online at wcs pod or you can just subscribe to the podcast and give us a little review that'd be really nice that's very helpful yes please So today's story is actually inspired by one of the listener stories we've already had. Oh. I was like, let's find out more. That's nice.

Yeah. And it's in the year 2019. Recent. Both of us fully up thriving, up alive. The year we met. It is the year we met. This is our anniversary stories. So exciting, so romantic.

What have you bought me? Did you know? 2019 marked the end of the Big Bang Theory, Game of Thrones, and Taylor Swift and Katie Perry's feud. Big year. It's a big year. There's a royal baby, fourth toy story. And like you said, me and Julia, started out in our first year of stand-up comedy and more importantly, friendship. Our story takes place in the summer of 2019, though.

So, you know, we've done a few gigs. We've got a few gigs under our belt by now. More specifically, late July, when Disney's photo. realistic recreation of the Lion King came out. And it was, it was just really the month of cats, because also the first nightmare-inducing cats trailer was dropped. Oh my God. Do you remember that? Yeah, I went to the cinema to watch cats because it was so bad. Like I needed to see how bad it truly was. And was it worth it or did you just feel like you wasted money? It was the longest film I've ever sat through. Well, I used to get your money's worth. You did get, yeah, but and I,

it was traumatising. Have you seen it? No, I know, because I was like, I would like to watch it just for and then people were like Abby value your life more yeah I don't value my life enough um and I went to see it with my friends and my friend at one point leaned over to him was like isn't it weird that they've made cats with boobs that's what I think all the time could not stop looking at Taylor Swift's cat boobs the whole time it's just cats with boobs it's insane yeah I've never been more disappointed in Judy Dench I'm sorry that's true I forgot she was in it she was there for the paycheck for sure and like no shade she didn't know oh come she didn't know they were going to make it weird cats is a weird musical i think that was the core issue there yeah um yeah well

2019 abby was was trying to write a bit about it she didn't never came through yeah as i said i don't remember that bit it was something it was going to be like it was something i remember it was about the rum-tum-tugger and then something about hold my beer but I was like hold my milk and that was that was the end of the bit um bring it back bring it back it's clearly a kill of it get it in the edinburgh they actually had to edit the laughter out there because it was just too overwhelming the mics peaked and it was too much they had to just cut it out but it happened um most importantly though july 2019 was the month megan the stallion birthed the viral catchphrase Ray's hot girl summer. So, who are we talking about? Colin Dowler. That's the star of today's story.

He sounds like a hot girl. Well, Colin Dowler's Hot Girl Summer Plan was on a Saturday morning. He was going to explore some potential hiking routes to climb Mount Dugie Dahl. No. No. Oh, Neil. Add it out. Mount what? Mount Dugie Dowler in British Columbia. That's not real. It is real. Mount Dugie Dowler was actually named after his grandfather by a resident of the nearby Quadra Island. And yeah, his grandfather owned the general store on the island for decades and it was named as a memorial to him because the mountain could be seen every day from the front porch of the store. Oh, that's nice, isn't it? So, but back to Colin, his grandson, it was his 45th birthday on the coming Monday.

on Saturday, and he was looking for an outdoorsy adventure over the weekend before. It's a... Do you want to know about Mount Digi Dala? Sure. I've done a lot of research. 20 pages, well. Yeah, and I've heard this story is a short one, so... Give me the facts.

It's a double summit. Ooh. Yeah, which means it looks like a little snow-covered cowboy hat. They call it the cowboy hat. Colin had tried to climb it before with his dad and friends, but they'd been weathered out from the summit. This time, he wasn't trying to get to the top, though. He just wanted to have an explore and find a different approach.

He wanted to find some new routes. And this time he'd also be going alone. Red flag. He said there wasn't a lot of glory in spending the time it takes to find a new route into the alpine. And his friend that was most likely to say yes had denied. That's what I feel like when you say no to plans. I'm like, well, that's my only friend. I have us quite a lot.

I guess I guess I won't do that then. You need to get yourself and some more friends, that'd be. That's why you're going wrong. I can't. I date them and then you can't be friends anymore. So he didn't bother asking anyone else because it was more of a labour of love rather than a glorious hike

because it was like he was going to find alternative routes rather than like go on and already established one and be like, woo, we made it to the top. On his way out for the hike, he grabs his new buck knife on the side puts it in his pocket his dad who Colin described as a pretty cheap guy had spontaneously popped round

with his first ever random gift of Colin's adult life like hey want a buck knife and he was like yeah sure dad I feel like that's going to come in handy maybe or maybe it's a random piece of information as a little breadcrumb maybe I'm trying to confuse you

ooh there are no towns near doogie dowler love that name That is a great name. Doesn't it just sound like a cartoon dog? Yeah, it sounds like who's the... Hey, doogie.

Oh, wait, it's Hey Doggy. Yeah. But in Canada, there's a moose. There is a ride at Disneyland. Okay. So, there are no towns near Doogie Dowler, but there is a logging camp about 10 miles away down a valley. So Collins' plan was to boat over to the camp,

then bike up the logging road before setting out on foot higher up. when he arrived at the logging camp only the camp cook is around but he kindly offers to drive him a bit way up the mountains so he doesn't have to bike so far Colin accepts and after getting a lift he ditches his bike at the side of the road to start hiking up

through tight bush or brush um I don't know what the different things they different I guess Bush makes you think of Australia yeah do you mean like

well I'm going to interchange both words. Great. And you just pretend I'm saying the right one. Okay. Okay. He said often he couldn't see his foot in front of him. So that's how overgrown this area is. Like he says, he's trying to find a new route. So he's going off course. He sets up his tent and camps overnight in the alpine. And after doing the scouting he wants to do, he heads back down to the road in the morning. He finds his mountain bike where he left it, the side of the road, gets out of the brush slash bush that's Canada for you uh yeah nowhere else is your bike still going to be i know right i couldn't leave it i was like you just leave it but i guess there's just like no people around also

where he is true yeah um so unless the loggers pick it up whereas i feel like you can't carry many logs on the bike so so he gets back on the bike makes his way out of the bush and makes his way back to the logging camp on the home stretch he's looking forward to his birthday the next day um and it's been a pretty uneventful trip that's gone off without hitch and you're probably wondering why on earth him telling you about a guy who just had a nice hike. I am. I know it's terrible content for this podcast. He better develop a horrible disease or something.

And then his foot just fell off. What? No, okay, so he's riding back. But as he came round the bend seven kilometres away from the logging camp, about 100 foot in front of him was a grizzly bear. Walking towards him. So this is the listener story talking about the bears and I was like, what's the difference between the bears

and I wanted to find out more, here we go. Okay. So he had spotted some elderberry bushes clearly pulled over by a large animal on his way up the mountain and took it as a sign of bears. So he tried to be as noisy as possible, making up little goofy rhymes, as he put it. Whilst also whacking out some classics

from the Preventa Bear Attack Rappetatouille, like you said. Hey, bear! It's just so fly. Isn't it? I see you over them. you got to do it with a wink hey bear hey bear it's like a it's like Joey like hell you do win he knew enough about bears not to sneak up on them or run from them he also had bear spray with him who's sneaking up on a bear was in like that's why you're noisy so that they like know you're coming rather than

what's just happened where he just comes around the corner and it's like yeah yeah yeah okay um he also had bear spray with him and all his previous running with bears had been entirely civil or usually he just didn't see them so he wasn't worried typically bears want to avoid us as much as we want to avoid them like I said he'd had previous encounters though those were with black bears

this was the first time he'd seen a grizzly and it was staring right at him so let's learn about bears here we go here come the facts I got a lot okay so this is actually really interesting though. So I'm going to teach you how to tell the difference between a black and brown bear.

Color? No. Oh. So, despite the names brown and black bear, coat color is the least reliable characteristic for identifying bears. For instance, grisly. No, no. Surely. Well, I guess grizzily.

We'll get to it. Okay. Sorry. But yeah, really, they should. If you can get brown black bears and black bears. Well, I've actually, I've come up with some alternative names. Okay, great. So, for instance, Grizzlies may be pale, almost luminous blonde, yeah, or reddish, blonde, light brown, dark brown, or almost black. They have a picture here of the different, and I generally think it looks like a laurel hair.

Like, you know, on the shelf where they have all the different colors in a line. Don't you think that just shows like blonde, red, brunette, black? You can see that picture on our Instagram. Are you going to put that on there? Do you know, do you know, do you know, do our answer is? Sure. It's W-C-S-Pod. Well done.

Yes. At, there's probably an ad in there somewhere. Yeah, about halfway through. Body size is also not a reliable indicator for identifying bears. So here is what to look out for. Okay. Number one, the hump. My hump.

That seems very, very intimate. I don't want to. No. Do they have a hump on their shoulders or not? So, brown bears do, black bears don't, right? Right. So brown bears... Not like these muscles.

Kind of like... Above the shoulder. Yeah, kind of like between the shoulders. Okay. So... Like a hunchback. Yeah. So basically brown bears look like

those pictures of what humans will look like in a hundred years if you don't stop using your computer. Oh, God. Yeah. Whereas black bears, their highest point, is their butt, like a Kardashian. So that's why I think we should call them gamers or Kardashians. Okay, nice.

Which is which again? So like hunched over. Is grizzly bear? It's grizzly. Big ass. Kardashian, black bear. Black bear, right. I'm with you.

I'm with you. A grizzly also typically has a concave or dish-shaped profile, whereas a black bear normally has a fairly straight profile from forehead to nose tip. The grizzly's eyes are like deep set. Black bears look more dog-like. Oh. Black bears are adorable. I've looked at so many pictures.

That's so cute. And they are flat or shorter fur. Grizzly bears also have smaller, rounded ears, so that's quite cute. And black bears' ears appear larger, longer, more erect. Love that word. And pointed. But with this, you have to take into account the angle you're looking at them from. Sure.

Yeah, that makes a difference. And also whether they've been swimming. Because a grizzly rock in a wet, wet look hair. Their ears will appear bigger because relative to their slicked back look. Sure, yeah. You get more, you really see the humpback. You see more of the hair, the ear. Penultimate is their claws on the front paws.

They're a really good way to differentiate, though this method has limitations for obvious reasons. But basically, grizzly bear claws are a lighter colour. They only have a gentle curve and they're much longer. Their claws are as long as human fingers. Gross. up to four inches long. Like a Kardashian?

Yeah. No, no, you're confusing them now. You're confusing them. Just gamers because they haven't left their computer. Their fingernails have just grown so long. And they're really good at piano. Long fingernails is the most disgusting thing. Whereas black bears have shorter, more sharply curved, dark claws,

which are more well adapted for climbing trees and tearing into rotten logs in search of insects. So bad thing about black bears is they can climb trees. Anyway. So yeah, just in general, blackbirds. bears acuter um you also may have noticed that sometimes i said brown bear sometimes i say grizzlies because grizzly bears are considered just a subspecies of brown bear okay the only difference is geography and diet so brown bears are mainly coastal uh more fish in the diet

yeah more access to marine foods whereas grizzlies live further inland that's why they're so angry no fish it's real pissed and cold they're living off those elder berries i know the others get a beach I'd be grizzly too. Well, they're actually called grizzly for both their fur and their nature. Grizzly fur? So their fur is grizzled, meaning silver-tipped. But it's also believed that they did originally get their name after the word grizzly, meaning gruesome or scary.

And here we go. I'm going to attempt some Latin. But their scientific classification, ursus arctos horribilis. Wow. Was also named after their horrifying reputation by a naturalist in 1850. Like Attenborough is in the room. Yeah. So basically people aren't, they don't really like them.

Yeah. They don't have a lot of fans. I wonder why. Which is why also the Blackbirds I think should be Kardashians. Just like more fans. Sure. Whereas like Grizzlies are more of like the online trolls. I see.

Yeah, they're like online trolls on the computer, humpback. Yeah. Me, me, me, me, you look fat in that. Yeah. Blackbirds, don't care. got a TV show. Fuck you. I'm so rich. Exactly. Who cares? Their apex predators, meaning their top of the food chain. They eat everything big and their large hump on their shoulders. Here it comes. It's what makes their forearms super strong because they've got

this extra really big muscle. Wow. A battery pack. Basically, yeah. And it makes them super strong for running, digging and turning over rocks. So they're just like really into CrossFit. Yeah. And this is why this is why people tell you if you bump into a grizzly don't run from it because they can run at 30 miles an hour that is so fast that is faster than me

and apparently they're more dangerous to humans than sharks well yeah because we live in the same places so while sharks get all the media attention bear attacks on humans are actually more common and numbers are actually on the rise however grizzly bears normally avoid contact with people and rarely actively hunt humans.

Many of these attacks occur when people accidentally stumble upon mother bears with cubs, but also the rise in attacks is thought to be due to the growing human use of grizzly bear habitat and problem bears. That seems unnecessary. Problem bears who have associated humans

with having potential food near to them. Maybe problem bears just had a bad upbringing. I put problem bears. Don't label them. like yogi bear he's a real problem bear is he yeah i watched that in a hotel the other day it was just on telly but he like just he's a bear that's out in a national park and he just like steals everyone's food and then everyone's like yogi he's just like a nightmare for the park rangers yeah but it's his fault because he's associating humans with food or is that our fault what for making up a character

called yogi bear for having parks where we go and take over their spaces oh yeah yeah yeah yeah for sure but I'm just saying if you he wasn't such a greedy little bitch sure maybe everyone would be okay um okay back to column that's all your facts about bears I do I do feel I do feel facted I have a quiz here to see if you could distinguish between grizzly and black bears but it's a it's picture based so I don't think that's going to be very good audio content probably not I do want to know if I beat you I got 13 out of 15 so I would have only been killed twice that's that's good odds. It's pretty good at 50. Well done. Yeah. We'll compete later. Okay. And we'll let you know who won. Also a mistake Colin has made, as we said at the start, is he's traveling solo in bear

country. And most recorded attacks are on people alone either in spread out groups. So like if you're left behind a little bit or traveling solo. So Colin stops. Just to remind you, he's come around the corner, bare 100 feet away. Looking right out of him. And it's a grizzly. Grizzly bear. Yeah. And it's walking towards him.

Got those silver tips. Just like Justin and Sink. Nice. Lovely. Okay. So Colin stops. The bear stops too. The bear looks into the bush, then back to the road.

And then he starts to walk again in Colin's direction. But it's okay because Colin has that bear spray, right? Oh yeah. He had the bear spray. Well, Colin reaches into his pocket, and it's gone. No. Experts would advise you to keep bear spray somewhere accessible, but secure. Yeah.

Like a bum bag, Julia. Sure. Okay, I will accept, if you are hiking, have a bag. Don't you need more than a bum bag? Yeah, but that's not accessible on your back, isn't it? Bum bag on the front. Okay. That was three moves.

Yeah. I'm ready to take on a bear. Great. Good. Close it as well because I don't want to lose my lip-a-goss. Get her in the woods. Right, I'm ready. She's ready for a bear.

But Colin had kept his bear spray in an unzipped outside pocket and somewhere along the way he'd lost it. Oh, Colin. Oh, shit. So he thought briefly about trying to cycle away. But as we've learned, if a bear chases him, he's going to have to be cycling faster than 30 miles an hour, which I don't feel.

like he's up to. But at least he does have a vehicle. He's not relying on running. Yeah, but can you, can you cycle fast than three miles an hour? No, definitely not. I barely cycle. So, I just remembered, you say I had the vibe of someone who can't ride a bike. I stand by that. Coming from you, rude. So, Colin decides the only thing to do is stand his ground and hope that, the bear ducks back into the bushes before it gets to him. Right. Experts recommend backing away slowly from bears is better to show you're not a threat,

but standing your ground is actually the next best thing. And bears often break charge if the person doesn't move. Okay. God, you've got to have balls of steel to do that, haven't you? Very difficult to stand your ground when you've realised you don't have your bear spray. Yeah. He's got that little knife in his pocket though? Wow.

Or has he? is that dropped out too. Let's see. Really, just get trousers with zips. Yeah. Just zip up those pockets, please. I bet he was wearing shorts as well. Yeah, I bet.

Yeah, it's summer. Anyway, he took his backpack off, took out one of his hiking poles, and extended it, hoping he could use that as some kind of deterrent measure or weapon. That's all he has at this point. He doesn't have the burst spray.

He's like, I'm going to extend the hiking pole, hope that just keeps the bear away. Yeah. The bear gets closer and closer. He was 20 feet away and Colin is getting nervous that he hasn't left yet. He started to clam up and stopped talking to the bear. So he's been doing all the like, hey, bad. So passive aggressive. Everything's okay. Um, now he's giving the silent treatment. But now he's, he's clamming up. Um, the bear just kept coming closer until its head was parallel with his front tire so like he's with his bike oh he's still on the bike yeah he walks past the bike and dips his head slightly returns it to the usual height dips it again returns it to the

usual height dips it again then makes eye contact Colin looks away because eye contact feels like a bad idea yeah it's like like I want to be submissive here yeah I'm gonna look away then all of a sudden the bear was past Colin and for a moment Colin thought that was it he was like the bears he walked past him the bear was just going to continue on its way down the road and a lot like how I'd react in this situation Colin was like man I wish I'd have been filming that because that would have been amazing content he was like I've just seen a bear walk straight past me and just carry along so I need CCTV in the woods that would have gone viral um the bear's butt uh was just past his rear tire when the bear suddenly did a

180 degree turn and started walking back towards colin Colin Colin obviously hasn't moved yet so he puts the mountain bike between them and starts backing away talking to it again now all like yeah you know we can just part ways no need to viciously kill me yeah promise I won't call never have to see me again um so with the hiking pole outstretched in front of him he places it between the bear's eyes it pushed back a little and that seemed like a decent stalemate yeah until it rolled its head bit on the pole and tossed it away oh that's that's such a fuck you isn't it nice try um just reminding you I am a bear. Yeah, you're like, oh, I just can't even imagine that moment.

Snapping it like a toothpick. Just like, it's almost like, that was a hilarious attempt from you. Yeah, nice. That was very cute. That was adorable. Yeah. Now I'm going to rip your face off. He was really trying to just, you know, when you put your hand on someone's head.

Yeah. He was really trying to do that with a bear. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He's a little stick. Yeah. I, it's almost, I feel like the bear let him think it worked for dramatic effect. Yeah. I think the bear, it sounds like the bear was really fucking with him the whole time.

Like he walks past, he's like, I'm going to go up to him, then I'm going to walk past him, let him, like, breathe. Well, later it is said when the, like, police go out and try and find this bear, it was very much playing cat and mouse with them. Are they going to arrest the bear? Or at least that's what they say. You know, they're all like, oh, you know, it's such a clever bear. Yeah.

Or you're done. Right. I mean, my money is still in the bear. Or the bear's just bearing. But it's all like, oh, we can phone him. And then it was right behind. Oh, I see. Yeah.

I don't know, maybe the bear was just walking about and you just couldn't find it. Anyway. Okay, so next, Colin takes off his bag and throws it to the side, hoping it would go for the food in there instead of him. Clever. It took a sniff, but then started prodding Colin with its paw.

Each poke got a little more aggressive until it lifts its paw high. Colin is like, this is going to inflict some real damage. so he throws his bike at it. I'm going to say that wasn't the best. Yeah. Cool. But also, what else can you do?

He was out. He was out. He's tried flirting. He's tried poking it in the face. What else are you going to do? Have you got a bike? You're going to throw it. He hasn't gone for the food.

He's tried Route 1 and 2. No choice. I don't blame Colin at this point. Throw the bike. The bear briefly got hung up in the bike, but steps through it, lunges forward and sinks his teeth. teeth between his ribs and his hips on his left side. So Colin is in the bear's mouth now.

And it carries him 30 or 40 feet towards a bush. Oh my God. So he's got him horizontally like a like a dog with a bone. Yeah. Oh, between his ribs and hip. His thought is if this bear manages to get me to the bush, I'm a goner for sure. Yeah. So he tries to gouge his eyes out. He had, he said he he had this image the bear's eyes out yeah yeah he's just like I don't want to see this um he says he had this image of kind of eye gouging and hanging on but with its big brown eyes in reality it was more just a poke in the eye that lasted less than a second like an eyelash like the bear just got an eyelash yeah it was just like oh you got something in your eye the bear's oh yeah the bear obviously didn't like getting poked in the eye so shakes him

and he's spun 180 degrees. But the bear then puts him down, pins him to the ground. Yeah. And starts biting and tearing at his thigh. Oh. The bear excavated into his thigh. So far, Colin could hear the teeth

grinding against his femur bone like a dog chewing a bone. Oh, that's so horrible. Yeah. So the bear would bite, come up, bite, come up. And each time Colin tried to, play dead but every time

the bear bit him it was so excruciatingly painful he couldn't he'd just scream yeah of course oh I've written a terrible joke go on I wrote

it was unbearable clip that up give that one to the fans that's for you guys that one proud of yourself I am a bit yeah I knew you were

I've written a terrible journey well just when you're writing it you don't realise at what inappropriate time it comes oh yeah when he's screaming in pain go on

go on but come on the pub was right there the mum was right there so yeah usually you should play dead stay still and best case scenario

you still have your backpack on and that sometimes protects your vital organs oh if you like curl up yeah see a bum bag that's not protecting shit no no no no I think maybe protecting your dick and that's it oh no no no no you wear the bun bag across your front like a drug dealer we've already covered this oh so it's literally protecting nothing well that kind of covers your like lung maybe and then the backpack on the back I always wear a backpack and a bum bag cool guy cool guy so I can keep my like train tickets in the front yeah laptop in the back

so robbers attacker on all sides you'll get something front all back um yeah so that's best case scenario yeah but Colin was not in the best case scenario he's already thrown his backpack exactly so what was he in Julia the worst case scenario I love the show do do do do do do do do do do do do do do do you do I get extra points for that now thank you Neil said yeah just for anyone wondering um he thought we should do points. We should. No, we shouldn't. My ego can't deal with it. See, anyway, I'm driven.

So, yeah, he's in the worst case scenario. He's throwing his backpack. He's just laying out there. Yeah. And he can't play dead because it's too painful. So, I think he's going to die. I think this is where you just go, look, I'm down, he's down to my femur. My ribs are fucked. I die now. This is where I die. I died. I died. Goodbye, goodbye, bear. Bye, bear. Bye, bear. Okay.

Well, he knew he was running out of time. Oh, yeah. Yeah, he thought, he did think. He was like, is this how I'm going to die? His thoughts were, is this bear going to eat me alive? Or is he just going to do so much damage that I die slowly? Which would you rather? Eat an alive?

Because he's going to hit, he's going to hit an artery. You're going to be out. Like, it's going to be. whatever is quickest, whatever is quickest. I think lying, knowing that you're dying, yeah, it's got to be the worst. So he started saying his goodbyes in his head again. Oh.

To his wife and kids. And he felt guilty that he'd even taken this trip in the first place. So yeah, I guess he was at this point in... Also, this is 2019. This is not like frontier America where they're trying to figure every, like find everything and like create roots. There is always something new to find you, yeah. Okay, sure.

And that's why education is so important. You should have gone into teaching. You were born for it. He was kind of in the situation you're describing at this point of like, I'm going to die. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But then he remembered. What do you think? His little knife.

The little knife! It came back! Look at that. Two and three quarter inch blade. His dad had measured it. I love it. dad he's into gadgets yeah he crawled his fingers through his pocket got it about four inches from the bear's neck and with one big heave stabbed it into its neck wow the bear lifts its head

immediately which Colin was originally a bit annoyed about because it meant it had moved just out of reach so he couldn't stab it again like he was planning to kind of continuously stab it but now he couldn't reach it so that was his one go okay um but then suddenly a big gush of blood comes from the bear's neck and lands on Colin. He says, now you're bleeding to bear. All right, Colin. Less of the sass. You're so lucky that you got given that knife.

He gets pretty cocky about it. It was a real, obviously that was in a Canadian accent, and it did sound cooler than I just delivered it. The bear gets off him and returns to the bike, then the bush. Every time Colin moved, though, it caught the bear's attention again. oh god so he tried to stay still but then he realized if he didn't stop his leg from bleeding it wouldn't matter if the bear came back or not yeah so he moved quickly and while the bear was still watching he made a tourniquet by cutting the long sleeve shirt he was wearing with his knife he pulled it up

around his leg tried to tie it but it felt like his clothes had bunched up around his leg he looks down to try and pull his trousers down but realizes they are ripped of shreds and what it actually was was meat poking out of the flesh. So he pulls the tourniquet up past the wound and cinches it down tight. He looked over at the bear at one point and thought, God, he's not bleeding as much as he was before, wanting him to just fall over

so he didn't have to worry about him anymore. But now he looks over and the bear is gone. So he just assumes it's gone. And he tries to get back to his bike. he couldn't walk his left leg useless yeah um so he uses his right leg to scoot along the road to the bike just praying the bear doesn't reappear with great struggle he gets onto his bike tries to take off but just immediately falls over oh and how far away is he from seven kilometers he lay in the road a minute thinking whether he should try again or wait until a logging crew

came driving past but it was noon and even if there was a crew out that day it would be hours before they returned and he's got no phone there was no cell service of course and four miles from the logging camp so after the CCTV we need to get in all woods can we please get some phone towers just like Wi-Fi like come on you should never be out of phone signal Four miles from civilization, no cell service. So he realizes if he can't get back on the bike, there's no way out. He'd already lost so much blood that he knows. He can't wait as long as it'll take for logging people to come back.

Right. So he heaves himself up to try again, knowing this was his last chance. This time, he makes it onto the seat, and he's off. So there's kilometer marks as you go, kind of like the race for life. good that's really helpful because then you can see but also not because you know when like you race run a race have you ever run a race does egg and spoon count sure um but like you okay have you ever gone on a run yeah yeah you act like you haven't i'm a human being yes abby yeah you've run for the best no but like you know when like you're running and you think you've been running for like half an hour

and you look and it's been like two minutes yes and then i stop running yeah but like I think this is what happened here is the kilometre signs actually kind of showed him Oh that actually it's a lot longer So he'd got mauled at seven kilometres And when he saw the five kilometre pass His heart sank a little Thinking he might not make it

And if he does he might be an amputee at the end of it But he kept on trying Sorry Colin Your leg is fucked If he's not an amputee at the end of this Oh my God Right, sorry, carry on. He's got flesh poking out of his jeans.

The bear was down to bone. Wow. Wow, wow, wow. He rides for about 45 minutes with just one leg until finally he sees the logger's cabin. He had planned to scream for help for the chef that had given him the lift. Oh, yeah. But it turned out that the entire logging crew

were actually there that day. They were eating lunch. and their doors were open. So Colin comes crashing into the bottom of their stairs and shouts up at the door. Five guys come out looking shocked by the state he's in. Probably really put off their lunch as well. Oh yeah, I don't think they went back to those steak sandwiches at all.

But they take a moment to kind of process. And then they quickly rally together. They take him into the building, take the tourniquet off, wrap his leg and take it in turns to kneel and put pressure on his side. Because remember he did get bitten. on the side at the start. Yeah. They patch up his 60 puncture wounds.

And according to Vito, the camp cook, who not only turned out to be the camp's Uber driver, but also the official first aid attendant, he does it all this time. You have to be in the kitchen. You've got to know your way around a first aid kit. He does it all. He said, he could see things you weren't meant to see.

One wound was so big that his kidney was visible. Gross, gross. That's disgusting. You should not see organs ever. That's horrible. And he's a chef, so he was like, that's definitely a kidney. Oh, God. He's like, if he doesn't make it, we've got dinner.

Soutay it up. They called a helicopter to get him out, but by the time it lands, it's been almost two hours since the attack, and he's lost a lot of blood. They got him on IVs, and then he was incredibly lucky because the helicopter lady told him...

Sorry. Official job title. sorry, paramedic, sorry. The helicopter lady. Men can be helicopter ladies too, okay? No, my God, the helicopter ladies. The paramedic told him, they'd only just recently been given permission

to take blood with them and give transfusions on the spot. Well, isn't that lucky? Right. By midnight, he's in an operation. rating room in Vancouver. The attack was around noon to give you. Right. So we're a full 12 hours of past. Yeah, exactly. Wow, well done. That was, I didn't notice that. Wow. Okay. His first surgery lasts six and a half hours. Doctors make an eight inch incision to repair the artery wound in his left leg and treat more than 50 gashes and bite wounds needing in all 200 staples and stitches.

After surgery, he suffered from infected wounds and nerve damage. Oh. But in late August 2019, so it happened late July. Yeah, so it was transferred to his local hospital and soon started working on his rehabilitation, including physiotherapy to rebuild the strength in his badly injured left leg. I cannot believe he still has it. He still has it.

So the damage to his femoral artery and other injuries were very serious, but the more enduring injury was to the nerves in his left leg. Colin saw a specialist and was told that a large nerve for an important quadriceps muscle had been completely severed by the bear. It was questionable whether he would ever be able to walk naturally again. Right, okay. Colin asked, is there anything I can do?

And he was told that the nerve could possibly regenerate as long as he listened to his physiotherapist. So Colin worked hard and in January 2020 So that's we've gone from August of January Yeah Like this is a very short period of time Yeah this is six months only After the attack

The specialists saw some nerve regeneration in his left leg So much so that in early February Colin ran 200 metres on a treadmill No way Then there was no stop in him The treadmill then stair climber anything that would help him regain strength and Colin began jogging

and mountain biking the trails near his house again stay off the trails Colin so mentally it was a lot harder than he thought it would be to get back into the woods yeah and he made a conscious looking over his shoulder the whole time yeah but he made a conscious effort to walk in the bush just behind his house he wasn't going up

nearby yeah stay close just behind his house because he didn't want to be overwhelmed by fear he used tactics to help him like playing music in headphones to drown out the noise of critters moving around and he has since bumped into a few black bears on the trails but he yells and they go away

luckily no great sneeze you'd fully shit yourself wouldn't you if you saw another bear so you thought it was impressive then in February he ran 200 metres on a treadmill I did yeah in September 2020 he ran a half marathon but now you're just showing off Colin

That's too much. A little bit. But in 2021, he gave an interview saying that his recovery was an ongoing project. And though at first it was positive and encouraging, he does admit to feelings of frustration over how the recovery process is still ongoing. He said, if you go back a year, I was ecstatic about how far I've come in such a short period of time with my recovery, up to and including running a half marathon. Now it's like, oh man, some of the things I thought were going to.

happen never happened or at least maybe haven't come along as far as I'd hoped um like if you're running half marathons you're fine like well yeah this is the thing is I couldn't quite find because I was I was intrigued kind of what that meant yeah and I was like did did he run run the marathon or was he still on crutches or I couldn't find anything that was up to date from 2023 all I could find was stuff I think 22 was the most recent reported on like how he was doing so I couldn't find like really detailed yeah up-to-date stuff on his recovery all I found was him saying this so I don't fully know what it means or what he's referencing I just feel like it already sounds like he is way more active than I am oh yeah oh for sure I'm like

most people are fine yeah I'm like I live quite a happy life but I guess if you're a very outdoorsy person and very oh yeah active and he still has pain maybe yeah yeah maybe that's it maybe it's, yeah. I mean, if you're not traumatized after an experience like that, yeah, that's strange, surely. Yeah. But for now, he assesses it as a life-changing event and doesn't spend a lot of time on the negative saying, I just don't seem to draw much value from focusing on the dramatic part, he said. He focuses on the awesomeness of the event, how cool it is and I survived it. And I'm comfortable being the badass dude, the tour, on a grizzly bear with a pocket knife and one.

And I now always carry pepper spray when I'm out in the bush. Despite the trauma, he's still willing to entertain the idea of summiting the mountain named after his grandfather if he makes a full recovery, but wasn't sure, saying it might not be worth it. Don't bother, don't bother. Have a tea. Sit down. Yeah. Well, he says, it might be nice just to look at from the view. Yeah. And that is the story of Colin Dowell. the man who took on a grizzly bear

with a pocket knife well clearly then there's only one answer for the survival toolkit the only other possible the bike we've already got a bike no no no no would be if he'd had bear spray possibly the whole thing might never have happened

if you'd have had working pockets a bum bag we're not putting a bum bag I refuse I refuse to allow a bum bag into the survival toolkit Because apparently, research on bear pepper spray, apparently bears fully leave the area 90% of the time and no one in the 80-something incident studied was hurt when it was sprayed. So either the bear leaves or the bear just left them. So bear spray does seem to be pretty damn successful as a deterrent.

Yes. However, he did use a pocket knife. He used a pocket, yeah, he didn't have spray. But I do have to say that like, bear experts say people who end up stabbing, climbing, running or fighting a bear in any way only do so because they haven't brought a deterrent. And there is a science to avoiding bear attacks.

Don't walk alone. Make a lot of noise. Don't broadcast any strong smells, which I don't feel like you always are in control of. Certainly not when faced with the bear. And most importantly, carry a deterrent. it probably is it's got to be the pocket knife

is the pocket knife yeah because that's what we actually use but I see it's nice but in future perhaps a bum bag and some bear spray or just some bear spray in a pocket with a zip

with a zip do you have any pockets with zips absolutely not do I go walking where there are bears no don't do that either so as always if you have your

as always if you have your listeners like oh fucking how it's because of my turn to speak now if you have survived a worst case scenario you can send your stories to help at wcspod.com and we'll read them out yes please thank you okay hi julia and abbey love the pod a little brag thank you for the compliment we do like you more for it yeah here is a little survival story from me. Okay. When I was 17, I went on a holiday family to what turned out to be, a town in France, that was hosting the World Surfing Championships.

What turned out to be? I guess you didn't know when she was going, when they were going. I'm not sure if that's exactly what it was called, but it was definitely a big deal in the surf world for sure. Okay. My best friend at the time, ooh, that doesn't sound great. Why do we, every story, every story is like, at the time. Maybe it's because our post-survival is too hard to stay friends.

Let's say it's that. We'll see, we'll see what happened. My best friend at the time was a keen surfer, so we invited him along and he brought a spare board for me so he could teach me to surf. Oh, no, it's in the water. We went out most days and I was absolutely awful and got shouted at a lot for being in the way of professional surfers. I guess it was like learning to ride a bike on a, stage of the Tour de France. Yeah, hilarious. Because I was getting shouted at a lot, I decided to go

a bit further out, to get out of the way and to give myself a bit of a run-up to catch a wave. Definitely not how it works. Oh, sorry, we haven't given context that Julia is a bodyboarding enthusiast. Oh, absolutely. I'm so, yeah. Because bodyboarding and surfing is definitely the same thing. I have surf before, so just have you? Have you? I soon started to realize, though, that however hard I paddled to get back in, I was still drifting out to sea. Oh, no. The board was strapped to my foot, so I jumped off and just swam as hard and as fast as I could for as long as I could.

But when I stopped swimming, I was still in the same place. Oh my gosh. I tried this several times till I was too tired to try anymore. Oh, no. There was nothing I could do. The beach was so full and noisy, but I was now at sea. I could barely see the people on the beach anymore, let alone hear them. Luckily, I had the board to keep me afloat as I was beaten.

Oh, my God. Then, out of nowhere, a god of a man appeared in a kayak. Okay. Paddling towards me. In broken English, he said he could see I was in trouble, and would I like him to tow me into shore? Yes, please. I was saved.

I then thought of the shame I would feel being towed back into a busy beach by a man on a kayak, while everyone watched. My friend Mike telling everyone back home... A kayak is a special. Yeah, I guess so, how embarrassing. A kayak. Oh, I've only been on a bodyboard.

My friend Mike telling everyone back home what had happened. So in order to save the embarrassment, I told the man I was fine and he paddled off. Okay. Oh, oh, why? The kayak was a god. The god has paddled off. No, you're kidding. I thought it was in like he'd paddled her into shore and then she was like, I'm fine.

You know, you know, when a kid asks you to, like, ask their parents to drop them around the corner. Yes. I thought that's what happened. They have not even moved. So she pictured what the embarrassment would feel like to be paddled in. And she was like, I would literally rather die. That's what she's choosing. That is, well, yeah. I'm no longer, you know what? Everything from this point forward is your fault. Okay. So in order to save embarrassment, I told the man I was fine and he paddled off. I might die, but at least I wouldn't live to be embarrassed. Okay. luckily a couple of minutes later the guy came back and asked again what a guy what a hero i humbly accepted his offer and was towed back to shore the riptide was so strong that he even

struggled in the kayak and i had to grip hard onto the surfboard to fight against it when we got home we discovered the beach was notorious for its strong riptide and in the week we were there three people had died what on the very same beach after getting caught in the car current that's awful that's crazy i hate the sea yeah that's so scary isn't it i's so imagine that you're just like out so i used to be a swimming teacher and uh what happened you taught like literally nothing there was nothing i have not taught history i mean i was a cover teacher for anything that needs a qualification yeah yeah no but i was a cover teacher so i did have to cover just whatever lessons well so yes actually i have done history abby and no i didn't know

anything that I was saying um but they teach you so we obviously had to teach the kids this is when i was in australia as well so we had to teach the kids like how to deal with a riptide and um they say just lie the instructions we gave which is just lie back and put your arm so like the save me sign is just like put your hand up in the air i'm careful you don't want that i know kind yeah not great not a great image um and then but then you move it especially with the red flags around you move it side to side very like deliberately right um and but you lie on your back but if you're that far out i've got very short arms if you're lying on your back i don't trust people to see my arm weight like i think you'd be gone well apparently three people die yeah that's terrible isn't it it's shocking

anyway don't go in the sea the ski the sea is scary yeah Yeah. It's one of my biggest fears. Yeah. Do you watch saving lies at sea? No. I love that program. It's so good.

Do you watch it, Neil? Neil, it's so good. So is it just like a lifeguard thing? Yeah, it follows the R&LI on like all of their like saves. Right. Oh, it's just, it's great. Yeah. It's so good.

And they basically did show them like pulling up to people like her and like getting them in and saving them. Sometimes they save dogs. Oh my God. yeah which are the best ones because then the little dog is safe and it's so good and um yeah i'd love that program a little shout out for that program shout out that program is such a good program we are sponsored by oh i'd love to be i did actually match someone on a dating app once and he was like a lifeguard and i was like i love saving lives at sea and he was like that just sounds like you're bragging about saving lives you're personally saving these lives just like also my passion and life um no he was like

I was on it and I was like and then he ghosted me so oh no I like to just think he drowned too far was he a was he a lifeguard yeah he was a lifeguard unlikely come on do you this why he's not replied yeah yeah he's definitely dead he's definitely dead that's how that works next one oh are we doing another one do you know yeah yeah should we do another yeah okay more uh hi Abby and Julia binge listen to all It seems, it seems embarrassing saying the braggie things at the bit. Like it's really nice that people are saying that. I'll say if you want.

Hi, Abby and Julia. Binge listened to all the episodes on a particularly long drive back from the north. Say again. Say again, Julia. And loved it. Oh. Thought I'd share a funny story. Yes, please.

Back in Fresh's year of uni, for anybody who is not from the UK, Fresh's is the first week of your first year of uni. Yeah, but you also do it in the other. years as well. Freshers week. Yeah, but it's for the, it's for the like newcomers, isn't it? Yeah.

But it's only enjoyable for the later years. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's never actually good for the freshers. Um, you said that's so threatening. Is that just my personal experience? I seek out those freshers and I make sure they have a terrible time.

No, I just had a bad fresh this week. And I feel like everyone I meet had a bad fresh this week. Oh, really? And then like second and third year once you've started to like, you've got like people you like and you've got hobbies. Then it's like freshers week is really. really fun oh okay but first week is it's a lot of forced it's a lot of trying to be someone you're not yeah whilst drinking more alcohol than you ever have done before yes yeah and like

trying to impress people and make them like you that's the gate yeah so you try and get those friends early on it's kind of like the worst possible week yeah exactly so there you go set set the scene lovely well done it's just rude that she didn't do in the first time come on guys I mean, she might have done, but you did stop me pretty earlier. Back in Fresh's year of uni, I was on a night out in a brand new white skirt. That's your first mistake. She's written red flag in brackets,

which I really, really approve of that, really getting on board with the concept. Yeah, thanks. New white skirt and heels. Obviously, I ended up slipping over on a spill drink, burst my head open. Whoa, that escalated quickly. Yeah.

And not my... myself unconscious. Obviously. I love the obviously there. Obviously. I thought she's going to be like, obviously I slipped over, got a shit stain on the skirt.

Yeah. But no, bum, head wide open. I was wearing a white skirt. I was asking for it. That's what she's saying. Skirt's not even in the head.

How is that linked? I was like, this is going to be a skirt-orientated issue. It happens. It happens. So she's unconscious. Head burst open. We've all been there.

Drink spilled all over her white, white skirt and that is the greatest tragedy of the story yeah she's really embarrassed herself yeah when the ambulance arrived all of these stories are just women being like I was so embarrassed yeah it was like god you were gonna die oh wait wait for this so when the ambulance arrived my friend was so covered in my blood they carried her down the stairs and let me walk in heels i actually have a story about this shall i let you finish first please that would be nice for once how many episodes in are we

hey it's nice I asked I'm learning I'm quite taken aback by that might need to take a minute okay so her friend they're they're looking after very well they're looking after her friend who was covered in her blood

she's hobbling down in heels oh my god then on the way to the hospital the ambulance got lost and they gave me multiple painkillers and then in bracket she's written mixed with unconsciousness and alcohol. So I thought my friend was driving telling her she couldn't even park in Tesco, so she should let them drive.

Come on now. I've seen your barking. Let the professionals drive. Let the ambulance lady drive. Sorry, no, it's more of a van lady. Oh, God. Is there any other medical professionals that Abby can insult? Police and car ladies.

having as van ladies helicopter ladies R&LI boat ladies Yeah yeah Any more You got any more in you Do you have her boat ladies sound Well fun

Boat ladies What a job Okay So she's off her tits on painkillers and alcohol At least I'm promoting women I mean but in the most offensive way You could possibly do it Give it up for my ladies

Yeah Okay. Gosh. Okay. So she thought a friend was driving. She was like, leave it to the professionals. The hospital then thought I was super drunk

and needed to sober up, leaving me with a literal hole in my head down to my skull and a bandage on the, oh, and a bandage on the bar staff had put on. So she's got a bandage, the bar staff had put on. As someone who has worked on a bar, nothing we give you is clean.

Four hours later, they eventually look at it, sending me immediately for a CT scan and a cosmetic surgeon had to sew my head up and I was left to recover till the morning. That is too late for a CT scan. As an avid watcher of Grey's Anatomy, I know that is very important. You've got to do that immediately. If there is head trauma. Yeah.

Well, they just thought she was pissed. Wow. I also loved the hobbling down the stairs and heels. she didn't even need to tell us it was fresh this week. Oh yeah. If you're still wearing heels. Exactly. That is so freshest.

Yeah. That is the last time I wore heels, I think. I think me too, actually. It was gutting. I brought so many and then immediately found out everyone went out in Trahina's. Yeah. And I don't think I can't wear heels now. Yeah, I don't think my feet would bend that way now.

No, it's like for five minutes. It's pain. But why would you need to? To top it all off, they forgot to tell me that when I saw, up the next day to leave, I would feel dizzy. So when I left the hospital, I ended up passing out in the car park and split, almost passing out in the car park and slitting my head open once again. Oh God. Safe to say, I've been more careful where I walk on a night out since. Can I tell you my story now? Oh yeah. Sorry, go on. Oh, well done. You've really sat

patiently there. Thank you. So at uni, actually, there's actually more of a person I knew story. but it was Halloween they all you know covered themselves in blood for Halloween and one of her housemates I haven't told the story in ages so I don't remember exactly what happened but got badly injured

and she came home to the flat and like there was like where she like touched the walls there was like blood and stuff but everyone just thought she was dressed up for Halloween yeah but she was like heavily bleeding and no one

no one took it seriously because they thought it was just a costume It was a bad story because I don't remember exactly what the injury was. It was actually like really dramatic. No, I think eventually they worked out and she got taken to hospital. Wow. But it just remind me of the like, the friend being covered in the blood and thinking she's injured. Yeah.

So basically don't get injured on Halloween. So also if you want to attack someone, Halloween's the night. If you're going to look at it from the reverse. Because you know, if you had the victim's blood on you, would they notice? You could walk around the streets. Yeah. welcome to worst case scenario the podcast that is now for we tell you how to commit crimes so that's it that's the like we can't end on that so if you have a listener story as well

of a time you survived the worst case scenario and lived to tell the tale please send it to us help at wcspod.com thank you thanks for listening that was really weird we did not bring eye contact and it was really intense too much hope you survive not another week. Bye. Case scenario