A hero, a strong woman and a bad bear
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Tommy Baron, a brave Inuit from Kangiqsualujjuaq, in Nunavik, in front of his cabin where he had to kill Nanook, the polar bear, to save his wife.
The story of an inuit woman who fought back at a polar bear attack and was saved by her husband.
She was looking around when she got out of the cabin in the dark as her husband usually accompany her. But this time, while being a few meters away from the cabin, Nanook was approaching her silently. Alice did not see it as Nanook rolled into mud to stalk on a potential prey. Before she knew it, she was grabbed and she felt a pressure on her skull and a terrible pain as Nanook brought her to the ground. She fought back, trying to protect her head as she knows that Nanook always go for the head. Tommy, her husband, still in the cabin, heard her screams, grab his big caliber rifle and ran outside. He knew what was happening.
Alice Annanack Baron and her husband, Tommy Baron were out on the Land of the Ungava Bay, at their hunting cabin, about an hour of boat from Kangiqsualujjuaq. They were alone as family did return to the village a few days before. They planned doing some work on the cabin and living the traditional life of Nunavimmiut, the Inuits of Nunavik during their holidays. A bad bear changed their plan.
When Tommy got near the scene, he saw his wife wrestling with the polar bear. (…)
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Toomas Annanack, a 1st Respondent, on his way with the rescue team
Alice Baron 12 hours after the attack, waiting for the medevac.
Johnny Sam Annanack and Tommy Baron relaxing with other rescuers.
Tommy Baron in communication for the helicopter while Amélie Drolet, a nurse take care of his wife.
The helicopter arrive, more than 12 hours after Alice Baron have been attacked by a polar bear.
Dr Mbaye and Sophal Suos, a nurse from Kuujjuaq, arrive at Alice’s side and listen to the report from Amélie, one of the nurse on location.
The bad bear taken to be sink out to sea.
Text & Photos © Marc-André Pauzé – all rights reserved. Feel free to share with the use of social buttons (at the top left of your screen) by making a link back to this site.
20 Responses to “A hero, a strong woman and a bad bear”
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When in need of helping hands people of kangiqsualujjuaq no one is left out when it comes to some tragedy or like the fire we had few weeks ago, people always intend to help one another wether getting paid or just volenteer this of my town i am proud to be one of them. On behalf of my self i just wanted to share this to you thank you.
Thank you William. You really have to be proud. My goal is to let the world know more about the people of Nunavik as well as life by itself.
Furrealz? That’s mraevlously good to know.
Tommyai, issumagivagiit, allumiugaluaqtuutik, taimaittukkut, aippaapit taimaitaviniutillugu isumalauraluaqtungga kisiani suvihaqnanggalu, isumainnaq ikajuqtupagit isumak atsuruqnatukkut atuutitilluutit, Tommyai, nalligivagit. Uttitsialaqmimut taimaituviniujaalanggimimut, qinuisaatsiarit. If you get a chance to talk to Alacie, I say hi to her, take good care, you are strong, keep it up, and god be on your side aswell as your wife.
to my sister alicie get well soon my prayer for you and tommy just trying to wrtie but my throat getting lump i want to cry but cann`t
Hello Daisy
I understand your situation. If that is some kind of support, I can tell you that hundreds of readers, worldwide, send Alicie and family their best thoughts.
Best Regards
I wish Alice a fast recovery. Not only is she a very strong woman but a woman respected in our school where I work with her in Kangiqsualujjuaq. We were on pins and needles when we heard of this tragedy. It brings us great relief that she is alive and being taken care of in Montreal.
Polar bears roam the land in the north, confident animals yet beautiful. I too have had an encounter many years ago as well luckily it did not attack. There are many stories from people in our town of many close calls. These animals are very powerful but hungry like any other. We must always be careful when we are in the wild.
Thank god that Tommy acted quickly and protected his wife before more harm was inflicted on her.
Heal well Alice. Our thoughts are with you and your family.
Anne
xo
please keep posting those great articles, your readers thank you so much for that, as we can always learn something new from your articles.
[...] Tommy Baron, a brave Inuit from Kangiqsualujjuaq, in Nunavik, in front of his cabin where he had to kill Nanook, the polar bear, to save his wife. [excerpt] She was looking around when she got out of the cabin in the dark as her husband usually accompany her. But this time, while being a few meters away from the cabin, Nanook was approaching her silently. [...]
I don’t know who you wrote this for but you hpleed a brother out.
Thanks Ayda. I wrote this to be part of my global documentary Project: “Northern Edge” and to pay tribute to Alice and Tommy by sharing theirs story.
[...] a recent story where I was leading a rescue mission of a woman attacked by a polar bear, my first objective was, [...]
[...] Tommy Baron, a brave Inuit from Kangiqsualujjuaq, in Nunavik, in front of his cabin where he had to kill Nanook, the polar bear, to save his wife. [excerpt] She was looking around when she got out of the cabin in the dark as her husband usually accompany her. But this time, while being a few meters away from the cabin, Nanook was approaching her silently. Alice did not see it as Nanook rolled into mud to stalk on a potential prey. Before she knew it, she was grabbed and she felt a pressure on her skull and a terrible pain as Nanook brought her to the ground. She fought back, trying to protect her head as she knows that Nanook always go for the head. Tommy, her husband, still in the cabin, heard her screams, grab his big caliber rifle and ran outside. He knew what was happening. Alice Annanack Baron and her husband, Tommy Baron were out on the Land of the Ungava Bay, at their hunting cabin, about an hour of boat from Kangiqsualujjuaq. [...]
[...] week polar bear attack & rescue mission was one of these. I was one of the two nurses leading that [...]
of course like your website but you have to check the spelling on several of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling issues and I find it very troublesome to tell the reality however I’ll surely come again again.
Hello Hands SEO
Yes there might be some mistake as english is not my first language. If you can pinpoint some of those mistakes, feel free.
Thanks
[...] Alice Annanack Baron, three months after the polar bear attack, greets me on the porch of her house. She is finally back home after many surgeries to her hand and [...]
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certainly like your web site but you have to test the spelling on quite a few of your posts. A number of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very troublesome to tell the truth on the other hand I’ll surely come back again.
Hi.
Thanks for your comments. As for grammatical mistakes, we have mentioned in the “Info” page, that our main language is not english, but french. You are welcome to send some examples as well as correction so we can improve. Alors nous serons très heureux de faire les corrections.
Au plaisir de vous lire!