It wasn’t until after Lee Ann Galante had the flesh ripped from her skull that she got to look her would-be killer in the eyes.
The 55-year-old Pennsylvanian somehow managed to survive a black mama bear crushing the bones in her face and sinking its teeth into her scalp as she lay helpless in her backyard.
‘Then, as if God heard my prayers, something distracted her, and I managed to roll over on my back,’ Galante recalled of the horrifying assault.
But her reprieve was short-lived. Within seconds, the bear was back – this time locking its jaw onto her upper arm.
She felt excruciating pain race through her body as she found herself staring into the face of the bloodthirsty beast.
But Galante would miraculously escape and live to tell her near-death tale – defying the wildest hopes of her doctors.
The dental assistant from Butler, Pennsylvania – who also attended the 2024 Donald Trump rally where a shooter tried to assassinate the former president – insisted that she be cleared to fly to Europe just a month after the bear attack.
And although her medical team was skeptical that she would be able to make the trip, they reluctantly agreed.
‘I heard the bones in my face crushing,’ she told the Daily Mail. ‘And I felt the searing pain. Smokie had run up the stairs and was pawing at the door, trying to get in, but I couldn’t move, as the bear had me pinned down’
Lee Ann and her son Marc were front and center when gunshots rang out at a Donlad Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. They stood just 15 feet from where murdered firefighter Corey Comperatore was sitting
‘I told the doctors I was set to leave on my dream vacation of a lifetime just one month later,’ Galante, now 56, told the Daily Mail.
‘Thirty members of our family planned a two-week cousins’ trip to Italy, to the village of Orsara in Puglia, where the family came from.
‘I had never been out of the country and my son Marc was to travel with me. I told them I had to make that trip.
‘Believe me, I wanted to completely lose it and have a big fat pity party and stay in bed for weeks! But I couldn’t do that to my boy who was worried sick about me. So, I thought, “I can get over this”.’
Galante said her face, mouth, lips and head were all numb following the attack, adding to the doctors’ doubts.
‘But they vowed to do their best to help make it possible. The rest was up to me,’ she said. ‘And four weeks later, on April 8, Marc and I were able to make the trip!’
The bear attack played out on the evening of March 5, 2024, when Galante had taken her tiny nine-pound Pomeranian Smokie into her yard.
She normally stayed outside with him when he did his business, but the phone rang and she dashed inside to answer.
Lee Ann Galante, a dental assistant from Butler, Pennsylvania, insisted that she be cleared to fly to Europe just a month after a mama bear protecting her cubs ripped her scalp
Lee Ann was set to go on a two-week trip with 30 cousins to Orsara, Italy. In a sick twist, she discovered upon her arrival that the name of the town meant ‘Place of Bears’ and saw signs all over depicting the animal that had nearly killed her
‘My husband and our son were both out that night, so I didn’t want to miss a call,’ Galante said.
‘No sooner did I answer, that I heard Smokie barking loudly. I hung up and ran to see what was going on and was shocked to discover three black bear cubs just outside the three-foot wire fence we’d put up for the dog.
‘In the 32 years we lived in our home, although I occasionally heard of a random bear trekking across someone’s yard, I’d never seen one in ours.
‘I was petrified they might try and climb our fence and attack my beloved dog,’ she said.
‘But no sooner did I manage to scoop up Smokie then out of nowhere, the mama bear appeared! And before I knew what was happening, she’d jumped the fence and began to chase after me.’
Galante said she ran toward the back door, with Smokie in her arms, but before she could make it to the steps of the porch, the bear was on her, knocking her down and smashing her face into the cement.
‘I heard the bones in my face crushing,’ she said. ‘And I felt the searing pain. Smokie had run up the stairs and was pawing at the door, trying to get in, but I couldn’t move, as the bear had me pinned down.
‘Suddenly the animal’s enormous jaws grabbed the back of my head, and I could feel his teeth biting into my scalp, he was tearing the flesh away from my skull and I was aware that the skin behind my ear was peeling back.
The angry mother bear climbed over the wire fence and made it into Lee Ann’s backyard, where her cubs had been climbing the maple tree and her dog was barking at them
Lee Ann managed to grab the pup but felt the bear trailing closely behind her on her outdoor deck
When Lee Ann went to run into the house, she suddenly felt the bear on her back slamming her face into the cement
A week after her attack, Lee Ann underwent surgery to repair her wounds. Shortly after that, she demanded to travel
‘At that moment I feared the bear would kill me,’ she recalled, ‘and I prayed to God to make her stop.’
The bear briefly paused but came back for more, leading to their face-to-face encounter.
Galante said she somehow managed to get to her feet and race up the stairs.
She quickly grabbed her dog and opened the door, just as the bear was charging up the stairs behind her.
‘I’ve heard stories about bears opening doors, and I feared she would follow me into my kitchen,’ she said.
‘So, I slammed the heavy inside door behind me.’
Galante said she immediately fell to the floor. She managed to crawl to the cordless phone on the table and call 911.
She prayed the emergency rescue squad would arrive before her husband Mark, 64, got home because of her physical state and the amount of blood on the floor.
Her cousins stayed at a villa in Orsara where her family hails from. There a gourmet chef prepared her special soft foods to satisfy her doctor-ordered no-chew diet
When the paramedics arrived and rushed her by ambulance to Butler Hospital, doctors were astounded she was still conscious. The scalp on the back of her head was torn from her skull and they put temporary staples in so she could be transferred to Allegheny Hospital in Pittsburgh.
A week later, she underwent surgery to repair her wounds. Doctors inserted plates and sewed up her facial gouges.
And that’s when she made her demand to travel.
Galante said it was worth it, despite being on a no-chew diet for the entirety of the trip. The family stayed at a villa where a gourmet chef prepared her soft foods she could eat.
While she could manage things like soups, pasta and some seafood, she couldn’t eat pizza or indulge in Italy’s delicious breads.
‘I didn’t care,’ she recalled. ‘As long as I could make the trip and experience the things I always dreamed of.’
In a sick twist, Galante discovered upon her arrival in Orsara that the name of the town meant ‘Place of Bears’ and she saw signs all over depicting the animal that had nearly killed her.
That triggered another emotion for Galante, who experienced hateful backlash when news emerged that the bear that attacked her was killed by animal control at the scene.
Lee Ann said it was worth rushing her recovery to go to Italy, despite being on the no-chew diet for the entirety of the trip
‘I still get hate mail from people who say I was responsible for the poor animal’s demise,’ she lamented. ‘But animal control said that once a wild animal knows it can fight a human and win, there is nothing that will stop them from doing it again.’
The attack wasn’t the only terrifying incident Galante experienced in 2024. She and her son Marc, 22, were also in the crowd when a man tried to assassinate Donald Trump at a rally in her hometown on July 13.
She was standing just 15 feet from firefighter Corey Comperatore, who was killed in the attack.
‘It was as if everything was happening in slow motion,’ she said of the assassination attempt. ‘Once again, the same motherly instinct that made me protect my dog the night of the bear attack kicked in and I shoved my son to the ground, covering him with my own body.’
Galante said that after two traumatic events, people were shocked that her physical and emotional wounds could heal so quickly.
But the survivor said that she really had no choice.
‘My father who served in WWII taught me to be strong,’ she said. ‘And I knew there were things in life that were much worse.
‘Following the attack, I couldn’t allow myself to fall apart. I had to hold it together for my son.’
Galante, who has lost 50lbs since the bear attack, is thankful for friends and family who stood beside her
Her three older sisters, one of their husbands, her husband and her son surprised her on March 5 with a celebratory dinner to mark the first anniversary of the attack
Galante, who has lost 50lbs since the bear attack, is also thankful for friends and family who stood beside her.
Her three older sisters, one of their husbands, her husband and her son surprised her on March 5 with a celebratory dinner to mark the first anniversary of the attack.
‘It was so sweet of them to take me out to dinner’ she said. ‘And when it was time for dessert, they surprised me with a cake – shaped like a huge bear’s head! At first, I was a bit shaken.
‘But I quickly realized I had to embrace it and try and find humor in it. Because you know the old saying, “If I wasn’t laughing, I’d be crying.”‘
