YELLOWSTONE COUNTY — Kris Spanjian, a retired cardio anesthesiologist and critical care provider at St. Vincent Regional Hospital in Billings, is now in recovery after surviving a bison attack.
The attack happened in January, and due to the severity of her injuries, Spanjian is still recovering at her bison ranch west of Billings.
Watch the full video below:
Spanjian has 1,600 acres of beautiful prairie land.
Her land is the perfect place for her fast-paced lifestyle, as she is a fly fisher, loves to hunt game and birds and raise animals.
But it was on her ranch on a snowy Sunday morning in January, when her life was literally flipped upside down.
"It happened so fast. I'm not sure how it all started. But, I ended up on the ground, face down, and looked for my phone, but the phone was gone," said Spanjian on Thursday.
The event began while Spanjian was on a daily walk with her three English Setters.
Spanjian told MTN that the bison on her pasture typically do not cross into the territory that she walks her dogs. However, on this morning, her dogs and bison herd ran into one another.
Spanjian says her eldest dog did not hear her call to return before bison started attacking the dog. When Spanjian went to defend her pet, the bison started attacking her, as well.
"At that point I just laid there and I knew I better just not move at all, and I was thinking, ‘What do you do if a grizzly bear attacks you? You play dead.’ So I figured I better just play dead," she said.
After the initial attack, Spanjian tried crawling away to safety, but was attacked again by two bison, a calf and a bull.
The second attack left her with a split lip, three broken vertebra, three broken ribs, a gash on her leg, and a dislocated shoulder with nerve damage.
Spanjian was flown by emergency helicopter to St. Vincent Regional Hospital before being admitted to the operating room.
As a former critical care doctor, she recognized a lot of familiar faces, including the trauma medical director, Barry McKenzie.
"Dr. Spanjian was really good at what she did. So, I'll be honest, there was a little bit of added pressure to know somebody, a trusted colleague, somebody that you work with and really value their opinion," he said last Tuesday.
Spanjian spent three days in the ICU before returning home. She thanks her former colleagues for their help repairing her injuries.
"We wanted her in the right position, in case we had to go as far as to put her on the breathing machine to help support her through, while her lungs are recovering after the trauma and bruising that they've sustained," said McKenzie.
While mostly recovered, Spanjian is still enduring long-term injuries. She now wears an arm sling and goes to physical therapy, but she hopes to return back to normal soon. She's got a trip to the Amazon rainforest in Brazil coming up in the summer.
"It's very important to feel comfortable with your caregiver, which I did... It just takes longer than you think," she said.
