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Pregnant Woman Hit By Car While Running From Bear

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Apr 24, 2009 8:56 am US/Mountain

Pregnant Woman Hit By Car While Running From Bear

Reporting
Jennifer Miller
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP/CBS4) ― A pregnant woman who was fleeing a bear when she was struck by a slow-moving car in northwestern Colorado Springs says she will honor the euthanized animal by giving her baby the middle name "Bear."

Ashley Swendsen, 26, said she thought the bear followed her more out of curiosity than malice because it kept a distance of about 10 feet Thursday morning on a hiking trail between the Vincent Drive Bridge and Interstate 25.

As she ran, she thought, "If it was going to hurt me, it already would have."

Swendsen managed to scramble up an embankment and was crossing the street when she was hit by a slow-moving car. Although she was not seriously injured, she was taken to a hospital as a precaution because she was pregnant.

Police said they're looking for the driver of the car that hit Swendsen. The driver stopped and said a few words to her and then drove away without offering any help.

Swendsen said she first spotted the bear as it was coming out of a creek.

"I didn't know what to do, so I just kept walking," she said. "I wasn't going to start sprinting."

But she started running when the bear moved toward her.

The Colorado Division of Wildlife said the chase happened in an area where bears are common. Division spokesman Michael Seraphin said the brown-colored North American black bear was tranquilized and later euthanized after Swendsen identified it.

Swendsen said she was sad to hear about the bear's death.

"Yeah, because the bear spared me, and then it had to die," she said.

Swendsen, who is about five months pregnant, said she doesn't know the sex of her baby but will give it the middle name "Bear" whether it's a boy or a girl.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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