HAGERSTOWN, Md. — A western Maryland woman is recovering from what wildlife regulators say was the state’s first recorded bear attack on a human in at least 81 years.

Sixty-three-year-old Karen Osborne was listed in good condition at a Hagerstown hospital Thursday morning after she was mauled Wednesday night in the driveway of her daughter’s home near Frederick.

Osborne’s husband, Ronald, says his wife required more than 70 stitches, has wounds on her head and torso, and a broken left arm. He says she’s in a lot of pain but “she’s a tough babe.”

He says she told him she punched the bear a couple times in the face before deciding to play dead.

Paul Peditto of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources says the 200-pound female black bear was euthanized Thursday morning.


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