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That is one bizarre story. That poor man, having to live with the memory of that day and now knowing that one of the bullets he fired at the bear killed his wife.
A horrendous way to die and, of course, a horrendous thing for the poor guy to live with. I hope he can come to terms with it. Since they indicated she had extensive tissue damage when they did the autopsy, it sounds to me like she would have died for sure anyway, so hopefully he won't beat himself up too much for it.
The predatory nature of the attack means that without intervention, the woman was very likely to be killed by the bear. Obviously, engaging a bear while it is actively attacking a person puts the person at risk of being shot, but given that the person was very likely to be killed anyway, intervening with a firearm was a reasonably calculated risk in this instance.
I agree that she should have stayed in the car. On the other hand, the fact that the bear had come through the living room window probably left her feeling extremely vulnerable in the vehicle. And when the adrenaline gets pumping... well, it's probably a lot harder to make level-headed decisions than it is for those of us calmly sitting behind keyboards.
The man should never blame himself. He did the best that he could. I do feel so bad for the memories that will be forever in his head.
The fact that she exited her car to be with him will make it even worse for the poor fellow. They loved each other.
If he hadn't tried something she likely would have died. She might have died anyway from injuries sustained at the point she was shot. The bullet sounds like a technicality.
I'm impressed by the doctor's sensitivity, not releasing the autopsy results until the husband had had a chance to grieve. And the fact that the fatal shot was a ricochet should make the burden somewhat easier for him to bear (no pun intended) , but I guess logic has very little impact on the feeling of guilt under such circumstances.
I hope he doesn't have the dog anymore. I would never be able to look at, or take care of, that dog again. It would be a painful and constant reminder of how the whole event started in the first place.
(Dog lovers; please don't get all preachy about my statement. It's just how I feel.)
if I lived in bear country id have guns or pepper spray in the garage, in the cars, in the house,,,ready to go,,
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) , but I guess logic has very little impact on the feeling of guilt under such circumstances.
