British bear attack victims recovering

Four British people injured in a polar bear attack while on an adventure holiday in north Norway have undergone surgery and are recovering in hospital, medical staff said today.

Tributes to 17-year-old Eton pupil Horatio Chapple, who died in the incident, continued to pour in, while families of those involved prepared to join their loved ones in Norway.

The five were part of a group travelling on a British Schools Exploring Society (BSES) expedition, which was camped on the Von Postbreen glacier near Longyearbyen on Svalbard, north of the Norwegian mainland.

Staff at the University Hospital in Tromso, where the casualties were taken yesterday, said it was hoped they could be transferred to hospital in the UK as soon as possible.

BSES Expeditions said those injured were trip leaders Michael Reid and Andrew Ruck believed to be from Aberdeen, as well as two young men – Patrick Flinders, from Jersey and Scott Smith.

Two of the group were understood to have severe head injuries and two had moderate head injuries. All were said to be in a severe but not critical condition.

The four, aged 16, 17, 27 and 29, were treated under a general anaesthetic and were being kept in the “awakening area” of the hospital this morning, members of the medical team told a press conference there.

The British Embassy in Norway said its priority was to reunite the patients with their families in a hospital in Britain.

But some of the parents were believed to be flying out to Tromso, including Terry Flinders, father of injured boy Patrick Flinders.

Patrick was said to have punched the bear on the nose in an attempt to fend it off.

His shocked friends in Jersey spent last night together, giving each other support.

The mother of one of them, Wesley Riant, said they had so far been unable to contact him.

Scores of messages of condolence were posted on a Facebook tribute page for Horatio by friends, families and well-wishers from as far afield as Australia and New Zealand.

Rachel Chapple described him on the page RIP Horatio Chapple as an “astonishing nephew”, adding: “I remember the day you were born. You were so sick and we all cried. And you fought and grew and filled your family with so much love.

“We miss you so. You have such excellent brothers and we are thinking of you both and sending you Horatio sized hugs. Love Aunt Rachel x.”

The teenager, from near Salisbury, Wiltshire, had ambitions to become a doctor and was described as a “fine young man” by the BSES.

Its chairman Edward Watson said: “Horatio was a fine young man who wanted to go on to read medicine after school. By all accounts he would have made an excellent doctor.”

Investigations into the incident are underway.

About 80 people were involved in the expedition, with the young people in the group aged between 16 and 23.

The Svalbard governor’s office said Horatio and the injured were part of a group of 13 in the campsite attacked by the bear.

Mr Flinders told ITV’s Channel Television: “I think Patrick was in the middle, (the bear) grabbed hold of his head next, then arm, I don’t know how Patrick got out to be honest.

“When I sat down I thought god, I was the one who pushed him. I was the one who pushed him, well I didn’t push him but we did it together, and all of a sudden he’s bit up by a polar bear.”

BSES Expeditions, which is based in Kensington, west London, is a registered charity and has close links with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award scheme.

The society’s expeditions are described as “a potent combination of personal development through adventurous activity and environmental research in remote wilderness areas”.

The BSES, based at the Royal Geographical Society, said it was “entirely focused” on assisting the families of those affected.