Robin Westgate says standing his ground against a charging black bear taught him he can trust himself under pressure.
The 12-year-old from Bellingham, Washington, was stepping outside his family’s Whatcom County home the evening of September 13 to grab a snack when he came face to face with a bear he never saw coming. “Me and the bear startled each other,” he told KING 5 in an interview published September 22.
What happened next lasted only seconds but left Robin with puncture wounds near his hip. The bear, believed to be a mother, charged at him twice and clawed at him. Rather than run or curl up, Robin fought back. “It was fight or die. I didn’t really have an option,” he said.
Robin later explained his split-second reasoning with stark clarity. “If you curl up or if you run away, you’re probably going to die,” he said. “If you fight, you have a better chance, so fight.”
His father, Noah, heard the commotion from inside and rushed out to help. The bear’s attention shifted to him, and Noah was injured as well, though he described the moment with unexpected calm. “Strange as it sounds, it was a feeling of relief to have her coming at me,” Noah said. “She crunches into my hand right at the moment I land the hardest punch of my life.”
Robin’s younger sister, Riverley, was nearby and heard the struggle. She ran to get help while the fight continued. Afterward, she said simply: “I’m just glad I was outside with him and the injuries weren’t worse.”
Both Robin and Noah were treated at a local hospital for their injuries. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife received a report of the incident at around 11:30 a.m. Local time on September 14, the morning after the attack.
The encounter marked the second bear-related incident in the region in recent months, a pattern that has unsettled some locals. Benjie Howard, who lives nearby and regularly walks his dog and rides his bike in the area, told KIRO 7: “I mean, we’re in nature, but it is concerning because we haven’t heard that recently or in the past – two in a month sounds like a lot? That’s a lot, I would say. Wouldn’t you?”
Howard noted he has also spotted mountain lions and bobcats nearby, but maintained that such encounters are “part of being out in nature and being prepared.”
Despite the terrifying ordeal, Robin described the attack in a single word: “terrifying.” Yet the experience has not driven the family away or changed how they feel about their home. Noah expressed pride in his son’s response under extreme pressure. “I’m a proud papa that my 12-year-old son stood his ground against a black bear,” he said.
Robin himself remains unshaken about living in the area, though the attack left him with a new perspective. “Just because I got attacked doesn’t change anything about the overall danger,” he said. “The only thing that has changed is now I know I can trust myself.”
The Westgate family has indicated they will continue living as they did before the incident.