Chased by a bear, pregnant woman gets struck by car

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Talk about an unlucky day. A pregnant woman hurrying away from a black bear in Colorado Springs was struck by a car, according to a story in the Colorado Springs Gazette.

Ashley Swendsen, who is five months pregnant, was not seriously injured by the bear nor the car. She was taken to the hospital as a precaution, treated and released.

The bear did not get off so easily. Colorado Division of Wildlife officials tracked it down and tranquilized it. The female bear was later euthanized after Swendsen identified it as the one that chased her.

When Swendsen learned of the bear’s death she was saddened, ‘because the bear spared me and then it had to die.’

The bear will live on, in memory at least. Swendsen, who doesn’t yet know the sex of her baby, will give it the middle name ‘Bear’ whether it is a boy or a girl.

-- Kelly Burgess