Virginia hunter dies after a bear shot in a tree fell on him
A black bear climbs a tree. (Photo credit: Getty Images)
A Virginia hunter died of his injuries days after a bear that had been shot fell from a tree and landed on him, officials said.
A hunting party in Lunenburg County on Dec. 9, was following a bear when it ran up a tree, the Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources said in a statement to the Associated Press.
The group moved away from the tree, and one of the hunters shot the bear. The animal fell from the tree and landed on 58-year-old Lester Clayton Harvey, Jr., who was standing about 10 feet away.
A member of the hunting party provided first aid until emergency medical personnel arrived. Harvey was transported to one hospital, then transferred to VCU Medical Center's Critical Care Hospital in Richmond.
Harvey died of his injuries at VCU Critical Care on Friday, Dec. 13. According to his obituary, Harvey is survived by a wife, five children and eight grandchildren.
Similar incidents have occurred, as the Associated Press notes. In 2018, a man in Alaska suffered critical injuries when his hunting partner shot a bear on a ridge. The bear tumbled down the slope, colliding with the man and causing rocks to fall on him.
In a separate incident in 2019, another man was injured in North Carolina after his hunting partner shot a bear in a tree. The bear fell from the tree and started biting the hunter. Both the man and the bear then fell off a cliff. The hunter was hospitalized, and the bear was later found dead.
Reporting by TMX
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