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NOVEMBER 24, 2014
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Saved from the jaws of the grizzly
Bear attack survivor recounts one morning in October AR NE PE TRYS HEN
It’s been a long month for Cranbrook’s Wilf Lloyd. On October 12, near Fernie, Lloyd was rushed, knocked over, pinned down and mauled by a grizzly bear. Lloyd was out hunting elk at the time with his son-inlaw Skeet Podrasky. Podrasky is credited with saving Lloyd by shooting the bear numerous times and killing it. Because of the close quarters, Lloyd also sustained a gunshot wound, but survived the attack, and was able to be flown to hospital in Calgary. It’s going to be a long road to recovery for Wilf. After the attack he had five surgeries in just eight days. His wounds are now healing, but he’ll find out this week whether he will be ready in the next two to five months for a prosthetic knee. Wilf and Skeet recently sat down with Mike Turner, local videographer, for an interview. For the past few years, as part of a Thanksgiving tradition, Wilf and Skeet have gone out hunting near Fernie.
MIKE TURNER PHOTO
Wilf Lloyd of Cranbrook (left) is pictured with his son-in-law Skeet Podrasky, who saved Wilf’s life when Wilf was attacked by a grizzly bear last month near Fernie. The evening before of Oct. 11 they managed to bugle in an elk and shoot at it, but didn’t appear to hit it. They spent some time looking for blood on the trails but couldn’t find any. Just to be sure they marked the area
and decided to come back in the morning. The next day they met to take another look. “We started zigzagging and looking at different trails and it was thick — there were trees and little creeks,” Wilf
said. “It took us about half an hour or so through the buck brush. We walked all the way through the bush. There was a field on the other side — we got to the field and we were pretty confident that there was no elk.”
But as they were walking back to the truck, Wilf spotted the skeletal remains of a whitetail deer. Wilf knelt down to check it out. “As I knelt down, I was about down to my knees to pick it up. I heard a noise
below me. There was a little rise in the buck brush and really thick bush. I heard a noise and a thud — the bear had locked his eyes on mine.
See WILF, Page 4
Kimberley woman trapped in immigration limbo C AROLYN GR ANT
Kiri Talbot of Kimberley has been notified by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) that she has overstayed her work permit and should voluntarily leave the country within 30 days. However, Talbot’s situation is complicated due to her 16-year old stepson and a looming custody hearing
on December 15. She is hoping to rally some support in her home community for her problem. “We’ve got to the point where we’re desperate and need any help we can get,” Talbot said. Talbot has been in Canada since 2007, and co-owns two houses in Kimberley. She fell in love with Kimber-
ley on a ski trip and stayed. “As a Brit, I can leave and then come back for six months at a time,” she said. She has never had permanent resident status but did apply for it when she married a Canadian in 2011. At that time she applied for permanent residency with her husband as her sponsor. His undertaking to sup-
port Talbot if necessary after she became a Canadian was approved in May 2012. However at that time, the marriage was already in trouble. The couple separated, with Talbot’s 16-year old step-son Liam (14 at the time) choosing to remain with her. Because her now ex-husband was threatening to
withdraw sponsorship, she applied for and received a temporary work permit (she is a geologist by trade). The two-year permit was granted in July of 2012 and has since expired. In June 2014, a month before her work visa was to expire, Talbot applied for a sixmonth visitor’s visa. She wanted to extend her stay in
Canada to attend a custody hearing at which she hopes to become Liam’s official guardian. That hearing is set for this December 15. But instead, CIC advised her she had overstayed her work permit and sent her a letter asking her to voluntarily leave.
See KIMBERLEY , Page 3