Craig Gilbert | [email protected]
Hospitalized after an elk chased her and knocked her out in Jasper National Park, Beaumont’s Karen Gifford wants to set the record straight.
Gifford said on Wednesday she was walking to a washroom at a Pyramid Lake beach on Aug. 23 when she was knocked unconscious by a cow elk in a “100-per-cent” unprovoked attack.
“I touched the bathroom door and it made a squeak,” she said. “I noticed movement out of my right peripheral. There were two elk in a stand of trees that’s a ‘U’ so you can’t see them on the beach path.
“The minute I saw the movement, I knew it was coming at me. I didn’t get in the bathroom, I ran and screamed to make as much noise as I could. Its first hit was its front hooves down on shoulders face down into the parking lot. It was relentless … kicking, headbutting, biting, until I was unconscious.”
Her husband was the first on the scene. The elk was standing over her, refusing to leave. It took another person using a vehicle to create a physical barrier to allow first responders to get to her.
Flights were grounded that day due to smoke, so Gifford was rushed to University hospital in Edmonton by land ambulance.
“They did not hear my screams at all but what they did hear was the rhythmic screaming call of a female elk when they are exerting dominance,” she said. “I have zero recollection.”
She suffered a concussion and broken ribs, a partially collapsed lung and bleeding in her stomach. Her wounds required more than 100 stitches to close. On her leg, one hoof stomp cut her to the bone.
Parks Canada said last week the elk was tracked for three days after the attack and killed humanely.
A school counsellor who also teaches kindergarten, Gifford was on a family vacation, camping at Whistlers. Her husband, also a teacher, spent part of the summer touring Alberta with their daughter, who golfs competitively. The couple spent a week in Mexico celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary, too, but was looking forward to spending some time all together as a family with both of their kids before going back to school. They planned to camp in Jasper from Wednesday to Sunday. The attack happened on Thursday.
Gifford stressed that a wildlife attack can happen to anyone, even someone with the “utmost respect for any animal.” She considers herself a diligent park-goer, the type who would, for example, yell at tourists getting too close to a bear last summer.
“I have played this over in my head for the last two weeks every in my quietest moments,” she said. “I don’t know what I could have done differently other than be in a big group. This can happen to the most unsuspecting, diligent, person in the park, which I consider myself to be.”
