Meet the 85-Year-Old AK Woman Who Fended Off a Moose Attack With a Shovel

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (The Blaze/AP) -- An 85-year-old Alaska woman used a grain shovel to fend off an agitated moose that was stomping her husband.

George Murphy says his wife saved his life.

The Anchorage Daily News says the 82-year-old pilot, who flew for three decades for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, was hiking with his golden retrievers near the Willow airport Friday. He saw the moose and tried to run. When he couldn't outrun the moose, he decided to dive into a snow bank. That's when the moose started stomping him.

"He was way off. Jeez, he spotted me and he started to come right after me. So I was trying to get to the truck. But I didn't make it," Murphy said.

His wife, Dorothea, who is 5 feet tall and weighs 97 pounds, heard the commotion and thought one of the dogs was being attacked. She ran to the truck, grabbed a big shovel, and hit the moose in the body and head. The moose eventually walked off. And that's when she realized it was her husband who was being attacked.

"When it turned and started to go off slowly, I hit it with everything I had," she told the Daily News.

"Then I saw it wasn't Fellar the moose was after at all. He was striking over the top of Fellar [one of the dogs], to get George."

Dorothea then ran for help, and Murphy was rushed by medical helicopter to an Anchorage hospital. He was in good condition Monday with a gash to his head and seven broken ribs.