Description
A 25-year-old backcountry wanderer, a man happiest exploring wild places with his dog, Dan Bigley awoke one midsummer morning to a day full of promise. Before it used to be over, after a stellar day of salmon fishing along Alaska’s Kenai and Russian rivers, a grizzly came tearing around a corner in the trail. Dan barely had time for “bear charging” to register before it had him on the ground, altering his life ceaselessly.
“Upper nose, eyes, forehead anatomy unrecognizable,” as the medevac report put it.
Until then, one thing after another had fallen into place in Dan’s life. He had a job he loved taking troubled kids on outside excursions. He had just bought a cabin high in the Chugach Mountains with a view that went on ceaselessly. He used to be newly in love. After a year of being intrigued by a woman named Amber, they had just spent their first night together. All of this used to be shattered by the mauling that nearly killed him, that left him blind and disfigured.
Facing paralyzing pain and not possible loss, Dan used to be in no shape to be in a relationship. He and Amber let each and every other go. Five surgeries later, partway into his long healing journey, they found their as far back as each and every other. The couple’s unforgettable story is one of courage, tenacious will, and the power of love to paved the way out of darkness. Dan Bigley’s triumph over tragedy is a testament to the ability of the human spirit to triumph over physical and emotional devastation, to select not just to live, but to live fully. Visit Dan Bigley’s site or Beyond the Bear.