LJUSDAL, Sweden, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- A top Swedish athlete said that an encounter with a bear while he was hunting moose turned into a "wrestling match."
Henrik Karlstrom, 20, met the bear Saturday in the woods near Ljusdal in eastern Sweden, The Local.se reported. Karlstrom is a goalkeeper for the Eidsbyns IF bandy team.
Bandy is a game with similarities to hockey and soccer. Like hockey it is played on skates by players using sticks but features a round ball instead of a puck.
Karlstrom was severely injured in the bear attack, which left him with deep wounds on his hands, a gash on the back of his head and injuries to his arms and face. He said the cuts on his hands are expected to heal and he is "happy to be alive."
He was out with a dog searching for moose when the bear jumped him. He said the attack seemed to go on "forever."
"It was like a wrestling match. I lay on my back and had the bear over me," Karlström told the newspaper Aftonbladet.
A female bear believed to be responsible for the attack and her cub were killed later Saturday.
