IQALUIT - It may have happened eight years ago but Kootoo Shaw remembers when he got attacked by a polar bear like it was yesterday.

"He took my head with one bite and mauled me for one hour and thought I was a seal," he told residents of Iqaluit during a public presentation in late February.

In September 2003, Shaw was attacked by a young male polar bear when he was guiding a group of American caribou hunters. They were a 45 minute boat ride outside of Kimmirut.

The bear ripped through his tent and tried to put him in the water.

"The fur was flying all over the tent," he said, adding he was only wearing long johns and a T-shirt when the attack occurred.

Now, he travels to various communities in Nunavut sharing his story to audiences, mainly youth.

"The more I tell this story, the more people learn," he said.

The bear weighed 800 pounds (363 kilograms) and its attack on Shaw resulted in broken ribs, bruises, and claw and teeth marks on his body. He required 300 staples to close his wounds.

"They've got one of the worst breaths I've ever smelled," Shaw said of the polar bear.

The bear was shot and Shaw was medevaced. He would later spend one month in hospital recovering.

Someone in the audience asked what he remembers most.

"I thought I wasn't going to see my kids," he said.

Shaw said he could see a bright light like the sun but that it wasn't his time to go.

Now a resident of Iqaluit, he is very animated when he talks and is quite frank and open about his experience. While he talks about what happened, graphic photos of the injuries he sustained are projected on the wall.

He had many bits of advice to share with people if they ever get attacked by a bear.

"Always turn to the right when running away from a bear as their vision is weaker and put your arms up in front of you like walrus tusks," he said.

He said to do this because polar bear are scared of walrus.

Shaw said he had his first bite of polar bear meat since the accident in 2010 and only returned to the campsite where the attack happened last year as well. The tent he was sleeping in is still there.

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