The Bear's Embrace: A Story of Survival

First, the book. It is sometimes hard going to read about such a horrific experience as a grizzly bear attack and its excruciating aftermath, but believe me, it is worth it. This is a book that will exhaust your emotions, it will make you FEEL and marvel at how much one human being can endure. It will do that, unless you are a relatively shallow human being, uninterested in the human condition and emotions, as some of the reviewers of this book are. So "The Bear's Embrace" has "very little action", is "boring" and describes "pointless suffering"? Oh, please God help me! A story about a grizzly bear attack and the frantic attempts to save the victims has "very little action"? A woman's attempt to cope with the disfigurement of her face and the ensuing torture of constant pain and infection is "boring"? Her severe depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, her forever-changed relationship with her husband, their Down's syndrome baby, the loss of an eye, the incredible pain from her injuries and infection that just seemed to go on and on is "POINTLESS SUFFERING"? Well, let me tell you something. NO suffering is "pointless". You poor readers, having to read such a "boring" book; no murders or sex or car explosions, WAAAHHH! This is an incredible book about an incredible quirk of fate that changes a woman's life forever; it is a tale of endurance and survival that will move you deeply. You wonder "how could anybody STAND this"? Ms. Tighem did...for a long time. But it got to a point where she simply could stand no more. She committed suicide on Dec. 17, 2005. She was 47. I hope that she is now at peace, without any pain at last. She was a courageous, remarkable woman...rest in peace, dear lady.

As a fellow nurse who once worked in a Emergency Room, I recommend this book for all healthcare workers, including physicians. The story outlines how an innocent hike in Waterton Parks, Alberta turned into a nightmare which lasted 10 years. This is the first book in which I slowly, began to understand how someone loses reality from intractable pain. Patricia asks for no pity only that her story and the following years of patchy healthcare illustrate how the relationship with healthcare providers is so vital. I often travel to the mountains to hike and now see bears in a totally different perspective. Patricia's book illustrates that once bears were afraid of humans and now we have become the prey. This book is not for readers who do not like morbid details about anatomy and physiology.

I believe that this story was a great description of a persons will and determination to survive. The book is very well explained and tells a lot about the human spirit. It is something that you would read on a rainy Saturday afternoon with a cup of hot cocoa or a hot cup of coffee whatever you prefer. A great read indeed.

I read the book in one sitting. I simply could not put it down no matter how many pressing/important things I needed to do. It has stayed with me long after, as well. This book was not what I expected. After chapter two which was the attack and rescue I wondered how the author could fill the rest of the book with the recovery. In moving prose, with bare honesty, she takes us on her harrowing journey. Through it all is her Homeric husband(demanding work, chronically ill/incapacitated wife, growing needy children AND building his own home - whom we come to love and admire, too). Yes, this story is an unwitting condemnation of the Canadian socialized quality of medicine, but it is ultimately the strength and perseverance of the human spirit. Please continue to write, we readers have come to care for you and your family deeply.

"The Bear's Embrace" is written by a woman who was hiking with her husband when they were attacked by a bear. Though both seriously wounded, they made it out alive and began the long road back to recovery. Both have facial scarring, but hers are much more severe, causing years of pain and permanent disfigurement.Ironically, the problem one reviewer had with: "hoping for some kind of information about how people actually cope with such devastating horror in their lives, but there was nothing here, just page after page of seemingly pointless suffering without redemption or relief" is exactly how living with PTSD is like. It's extremely difficult to cope with, which is why it can break up families/friendships. As someone who has PTSD, I was able to empathize with almost everything with the author was talking about. The writing can be emotionally raw and the constant emotional turmoil Ms.Van Tighem goes through is captured well. Though she's able to pull herself up for small periods, at one point starting a support group for those having facial disfigurements, most of the book is about her trying to cope with her disfigurement and depression. Only at the end is she able to start climbing out of the pit she is in, when she was finally diagnosed with PTSD after 20 years. If you'd like to get a glimpse of how badly PTSD can affect someone, read this book. It does an excellent job of showing the difficulties a PTSD victim has in reintegrating themselves back into everyday life as well as the daily struggles just to live one day at a time.