Heroic Mom Shields Son's Face from Bear at Birthday Picnic
A 15th birthday lunch was interrupted by a giant bear.
While there is a lot of fear surrounding black bears, the chances of being attacked by one is very rare. According to AZ Animals, North America has an average of one fatal black bear attack every year. There have only been 16 fatal attacks since 2010. However, the large animals are hazardous and violent if you stumble upon them in the wild – or at a local park. This happened to a family having a picnic at a local park in Mexico, and luckily, one heroic mom acted fast to save her son from a bear attack.
Silvia Macias was celebrating her son's birthday at a park in Mexico. Santiago, who has Down's syndrome, was turning 15.
In a viral TikTok video, she is seen shielding her son's face when a bear approaches them while they are eating lunch. The video has been viewed more than 10 million times.
"The worst thing was that Santiago might get scared," Ms. Macías recalled on Tuesday in an interview with the Associated Press. "Santiago is very afraid of animals, a cat or a dog. Any animal scares him a lot."
"That's why I covered his eyes because I didn't want him to see it and scream or run. I was afraid that if he got scared or screamed or scared the bear, that the bear would react," she said.
Macías, who was at the park with Ms Chapa, who filmed the video, was aware that there were bears at the Nuevo Leon park. However, they usually came out more around dark or dusk.
They did have a plan, just in case. "We are going to play a game where we cover Santiago's eyes, and we are going to act like statues," she said about their plan.
When they saw the bear, they followed their plan, with Santiago remaining motionless, even though "the bear was very close to us, we heard him as he growled, as he ate, you could smell the bear. It was really very, very close."
Asked if he had been scared, Santiago, who attends middle school in Mexico City, said: "Yes, a lot."
Ms. Chapa also knew the proper bear protocol not to run. She threw some food far away, showing it to the bear first. The bear followed, and Ms. Chapa shielded Macias and her son, allowing them to retreat slowly.
The bear went away, and Santiago's birthday tacos were replaced. Macias doesn't consider herself a hero."I just think I'm a mother who protected her cub," she said.
