August 13, 2010 11:00 AM

Man Wakes Up with Head in Polar Bear's Mouth

By
CBSNews
An Arctic explorer survived a polar bear attack.

Sebastian Nilssen, of Norway, says he woke up with his head in the bear's mouth last week.

Ht told the website Asylum.com, "I grabbed for my shotgun and tried to shoot it but the polar bear had snapped the gun in half. It must have been only a minute I was in his jaws, but it felt like forever."

As the bear stood up with him in its mouth, a friend shot the bear dead.

Nilssen says he's not angry at the bear -- because it was probably very hungry.

Asylum says, "Nilssen was airlifted to the hospital and underwent three hours of emergency surgery to repair a pierced lung and stem the flow of blood from bite marks on his neck, which were inches from a vital artery. "

To see Nilssen and the bear, click below on the video of a report by CBS News Correspondent Jeff Glor on "The Early Show."

Copyright 2010 CBS. All rights reserved.
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