Book #4: The Bear's Embrace by Patricia Van Tighem

#4
Title: THE BEAR's EMBRACE: The True Story of Surviving a Bear Attack
Author: Patricia Van Tighem
Rating A
Date Finished: January 20th (wee hours) 2006
Genre/Date Published/# Pages – Memoir/Published in Canada 2000/273 pages
Main Characters: Patricia Van Tighem and her husband Trevor Janz
Setting/Time Period 1983 to 1998 Alberta and British Columbia, Canada (with a small part in New Zealand)
Where Book Came From: Bought from Amazon Marketplace
Reason for Reading: I have enjoyed this kind of story in the past
Brief Blurb: Patricia "Trish" van Tighem – a vicacious, pretty young nurse and her pediatric resident husband of three years are out hiking when they are mauled by a grizzly bear. This is the story of the ensuing 15 years including the many surgeries Trish went through and her depression that ensued as a result of the
pain she has had to endure along with the disfiguration caused by the
attack.

COMMENT: Trish and Trevor had everything going for them when they,
two experienced backpackers, took a well-deserved weekend off to do something
they enjoyed. They took all the necessary precautions but the couldn't escape
a particularly aggressive female grizzly one fall day in Waterton Lakes National Park south of their home in Calgary, Alberta. Trevor was attacked first and Trish was torn between helping him or climbing a tree to save herself—she had always been
told grizzlies couldn't climb trees. But due to their experience, the cold weather, and two hikers who find them soon after the attack, they both survive the attack. This book is less about the attack itself than the years afterwards including quite a bit about their initial time in the hospital, Trish's many surgeries, and their life in rural Canada with (eventually) four children.

This book was a bittersweet read for me as I read it after hearing of Trish's death by suicide in December of 2005 at the age of 47. So I knew that although the book
ended on an upbeat note, that the real story hadn't ended and it didn't end happily.
I also knew that at the time of her death Trish and Trevor were separated. That
may have colored my opinion of Trevor from the very beginning, but I did find
him a bit selfish throughout the entire book and even though he seemed to try
to accept Trish after her injuries, I don't think he ever truly could deal with
her disfigurement. All in all though the book was a mesmerizing read. Trish was a talented writer and this is a stunning story. I highly recommend it.