SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — An Arizona woman attacked by a bear while walking her dog four weeks ago has died of complications from her injuries.
Family members say 61-year-old Lana Hollingsworth, of Gilbert, died Monday at a Scottsdale hospital after undergoing numerous surgeries following the mauling on June 28.
KTVK-TV reports doctors believe an unknown bacteria, possibly from the bear's claws, sparked an infection that they could not control. The theory is that the rampant infection might have caused a hemorrhage.
Hollingsworth's son, Robert Oates, says the black bear essentially scalped his mother as she walked her dog outside her vacation home in Pinetop.
The bear was raiding trashcans near the Pinetop Lakeside Country Club.
Federal wildlife officials responded and used tracking dogs to find and kill the bear.
