“I just remember feeling something biting me and seeing it right in front of me. I could see its face, its whiskers,” Jen Royce tells Inside Edition.
A woman who was severely mauled by an otter while tubing with her friends returned to the river in Montana where the attack happened.
Jen Royce and her friends Stephanie and Leila were inner-tubing on the Jefferson River outside the city of Bozeman. What was supposed to be a relaxing excursion down the river turned into a nightmare three hours into their adventure.
“I just remember feeling something biting me and seeing it right in front of me. I could see its face, its whiskers,” Royce tells Inside Edition.
Royce was severely injured with deep gashes to her face and hands by an otter, an animal not usually associated with attacks on humans. Royce also lost half of her right ear.
Leila rushed to shore.
“Thankfully I was able to get to safety and I had a phone that was in a waterproof bag and I was able to call 911 right away,” Leila says.
The area the women were in was so remote it took nearly an hour for medics to reach them. Royce was airlifted to a local hospital.
Two months later, the scars are still visible on Royce’s face. She says if it was not for her friends, she would not be here today.
“I thank them for my survival and for getting me out of the worst moment of my life,” Royce says.
A GoFundMe page has been set up to aid Royce in funding her medical expenses, which included a medical helicopter transport.
The women say they are not sure if they will ever go tubing again.
It is believed that it was a northern river otter that attacked Royce. They weigh about 20 pounds and have 36 very sharp teeth.
