Bear Attack - Help Gil Graham's rehab

Hi, we are friends who are raising funds for Gil Graham and his family in this time of need.

(Below Gil and Leslie with three of their grandchildren)

Gil has worked in the mineral exploration industry for more than 40 years for a variety of exploration companies as a highly skilled field technician often working in remote and isolated regions across British Columbia and Canada. After a long career Gil was nearing retirement. During his career he has had numerous encounters with bears however this one was different. On Monday May 31st he was starting a project for a few months’ work in northern BC. Shortly after arriving at the project site as he was opening the camp, Gil was attacked by a black bear . He suffered serious injuries to his left thigh. . An investigation by the local Conservation Officers determined this was a startle event.

Gil was rushed to the small medical clinic in the village Tsay Keh Dene located at the north end of Williston Lake where he was stabilized and received further treatment to his wounds. He was subsequently airlifted to hospital in Prince George where he underwent surgery.

Gil has a long hard road of recovery/rehabilitation ahead of him which is estimated will take more than a year. Our gofundme goal is to help Gil with his recovery recognizing that there will be many costs and unexpected expenses that will arise.

We know that friends within and outside of the exploration community along with so many people that have met Gil can help. Gil is truly a one of a kind, stand-up guy with a great sense of humour and a sincere willingness to help others before himself.

He enjoys working on and riding classic motorbikes and his many times rebuilt classic 1966/67 Volvo 123 GT and we want to help him get back to being able to enjoy them again.

We can all pull together to help him with this life changing event recognizing that realistically Gil may not return to his field of work again.

Updates on his progress will follow.