HORRIFYING

New Jersey Family Attacked by a Wolf at Canada’s Banff National Park

According to Elisa Rispoli, the wolf ripped open their tent and started dragging her husband away.

A wolf attacked a New Jersey family at Canada’s Banff National Park last week, ripping open their tent and attempting to drag the father away. In a Facebook post, Elisa Rispoli recounted how her husband, Matthew, threw himself in front of her and their two children after the wolf ripped open their tent on August 8. “It was like something out of a horror movie,” she wrote, adding that the wolf attacked Matthew’s arms and hands. The wolf then had Rispoli’s husband pinned down, and it started dragging him away before another man came and kicked the wolf away. The man, a Canadian named Russ Fee, heard the family’s screams from a neighboring campsite and helped them get to safety in his minivan. “I cannot and don’t think I’ll ever be able to properly describe the terror,” Rispoli wrote.

According to The Calgary Herald, Matthew was treated at a hospital for “puncture wounds and lacerations” on his arms and hands—but was otherwise in good condition. Parks Canada found a wolf near the campsite and euthanized it, though DNA tests have yet to determine if the one found was the one who attacked the Rispoli family. The campsite  has also been closed pending the tests. The agency said the wolf’s “poor condition” was a likely factor in the rare attack.