BRADBURY, Calif.(NewsNation Now) — A California teenager says she was “running on adrenaline” when she shoved a bear off a wall in her backyard in order to save her dogs.
The surveillance footage, which has been seen millions of times online, shows two cubs and a mama bear wandering into Hailey Morinico’s yard before her four dogs run up to the bears while barking.
The mother bear takes a few swipes at her dogs before Morincio runs up to shove the bear away. Morincio then flees with her dogs.
Morinico sprained her ankle and got a few scrapes on her knee while protecting her dogs, but they’re all otherwise okay.
“The puppies are fine. Only two got some small scratches, but otherwise, they’re completely fine. I’m okay, my fingers alright. I just sprained it a little bit of pain but nothing too major. Nothing serious,” said Morinico.
She called her actions spur of the moment motivated by her desire to save her dogs.
“I was like running only on adrenaline. I couldn’t think it was just spur of the moment, action. And honestly, it was just it was crazy. It happened in a matter of seconds,” said Morinico.
Her parents were nearby and the entire family, including the dogs, all ran inside to safety. The family is used to seeing some bears in the area, but this was different.
“Oh gosh, no. We’ve seen them around on the street and behind windows and doors but never this close. Not at all,” said Morinico.
When asked about the attention her video’s received, Morinico said she was shocked.
“It’s honestly crazy. I didn’t think that the video would blow up this much. I thought I’d get a few thousand views. Maybe a couple of hundred likes, but I didn’t think it blew up to be this crazy. And the love is just unreal and all the support from the people,” said Morinico.