Bozeman, MT, resident Jen Royce said she is grateful to be alive after she and two of her friends were attacked by a river otter while floating in the Jefferson River. .“This thing was vicious and relentless,” said Royce in a Facebook post..“It bit my face in several places, both of my ears, by arms, my hands, my legs, my thighs and my ankle.”.Royce said her friends were bitten on their hands and butts while tubing on August 2. She added one friend’s thumb was shredded and she has bite marks all over her body. .She tried to kick the otter away, but she would get attacked somewhere else. At one point, she held it back by grabbing its arm to hold it away and trying to swim closer to shore. .Once she had her feet under her, she was able to fight back better and to pull herself out of the river. The otter swam away after that. .She acknowledged there were “so many thoughts going through my head during the fight, but what gave me the strength and vigor, one that’s hard to repeat and to even think about, was of my children.”.Without any exaggeration, she said she did not think she was going to make it out of the Jefferson River. .Her group had one cellphone between all of them which made it to shore. Her friend was able to call 911 through SOS mode. .Royce was covered in blood and had it seeping out from her face and nose. She complained about it being cold, wet, and dark. .An ambulance came to the area about one hour later. There was no way the ambulance could see them from their location. .The friend who called had to leave the group and run a few kilometres to the road to try and get it. She said she knows this was not an easy decision for her to make. .By this point, Royce said she felt faint and did not know what was happening to her body. With all of her heart, she said she did not think she was going to wake up if she closed her eyes. .She told her friend who stayed with her that she loved her and asked her to watch over her children. She said she was sorry for the anxiety and the pain she caused her, but she did not want to not say those words if it did turn that direction..Royce focused on staring at the weeds in front of her. She was able to calm her mind by counting backwards from 99. .And then the lights came. She said they made her hopeful. .As the realization sat in that help had arrived, she heard the sound of a helicopter approaching. She said she “cannot begin to explain the huge relief and the hysterical release of tears knowing we weren’t alone and would soon be on our way out of HELL.”.Royce was given pain relief and a warm blanket, strapped to a stretcher, and loaded into a helicopter to head to Bozeman Deaconess Hospital. Once at Bozeman Deaconess, she was met by emergency room staff who treated her with great care..Her friends were treated at the same time she was. They received rabies vaccines, and those who were not updated for their tetanus shots had one. .The wounds on her face were flushed out with saline. Antibiotics and saline were administered through an intravenous line. .She was stitched up on her ankle, leg, arms, hands, and fingers around 2 a.m. Surgery for her face and ears was scheduled for 4:30 a.m. .Royce went into surgery around 5 a.m. What was supposed to be a two-hour surgery turned into five. .All of her wounds were scrubbed clean, and hundreds of stitches were sewn to bring her back together. She said she was in the hands of an amazing oral surgeon. .She admitted she has more stitches in her body than she can count. Besides her face, she has puncture wounds to her left ankle, legs, back of her right thigh, arms, hands, and all fingers. .Royce’s left ear is split in half from top to bottom and is being held together with some kind of yellow bandage and stitches on the two sides. She has lost almost half of her right ear. .“But I am lucky, and I am grateful, and I am alive,” she said.
