Kendell Cummings’ life changed forever on a hike in the Wyoming backcountry outside Cody in October 2022 when a grizzly bear attacked him and one of his hiking companions.
Cummings jumped onto the bear as it mauled his teammate on the wrestling team at Northwest College in Powell, Brady Lowry.
It was that act of bravery that saved Lowry. And while both young men were mauled by the bear, they survived.
On Monday, the Carnegie Hero Fund announced Cummings will be awarded a Carnegie Medal for Heroism, considered North America’s highest civilian honor for heroism. Established by Andrew Carnegie, the medal is given throughout the U.S. and Canada to those who enter extreme danger while saving or attempting to save the lives of others.
“I think it’s awesome,” Lowry told Cowboy State Daily on Monday. “If anyone deserves it, it’s him. He is a hero.”
Instinct And Adrenaline
Cummings was not immediately available for a comment about winning this award, but told Cowboy State Daily from a hospital bed after the attack that he just acted on instinct and adrenaline.
“I grabbed and yanked him hard by the ear,” said Cummings, a native of Evanston, Wyoming.
Cummings successfully got the bear’s attention. Backing up as the predator reared up toward him, he described the sensation of the bear’s putrid breath filling his nostrils and himself with a sense of dread.
Cummings described how the bear charged at him with surprising speed, immediately knocking him to the ground. After a short while in the grip of jaws, the bear left him. Cummings’ thoughts were not on his own injuries, but rather that the bear would attack Lowry again. It was when he stood up to look for his teammate that the bear attacked again.
“I called out to Brady to make sure he was alright and I think the bear heard me,” Cummings said. “It kind of circled around and got me again.”
The bear eventually stopped its attack, and Cummings lay still for a few minutes after, hoping to avoid a third encounter.
When it was clear the grizzly had gone, Cummings said he got up and rejoined Lowry. The bloodied men then began their long trek down the mountain, 5 miles away from the Bobcat-Houlihan Trailhead where they started their hike.
He is the second Wyoming resident to receive a Carnegie Medal for Heroism in as many years as Green River resident Ryan Pasborg was honored last year for saving a woman and her child from a burning home.
Instant Fame
When speaking with Cowboy State Daily after the attack, Lowry credited Cummings for saving his life.
Cummings received 60 staples in his head and plastic surgery to address major lacerations to his face, major lacerations to his left arm and leg that doctors had to suture up, and stitches on his right hand and right leg.
Lowry suffered a broken arm and lacerations to his back, shoulders, right leg and thigh.
The event made international news and last summer, Cheyenne Frontier Days recognized the pair, along with two other teammates with them that day, as two of Pace-O-Matic's Wyoming heroes.
“It was different, I was never expecting anything like it,” Lowry said. “We’re just two young kids from Wyoming, we’re not used to getting all this attention.”
Where Are They Today?
Although Lowry has since retired from wrestling, Cummings continued wrestling for Northwest this past season.
One of the other wrestlers who was there on the day of attack, Orrin Jackson, competed in the NJCAA National Tournament this spring, finishing fourth.
Lowry competed in the 2023 nationals, finishing fifth.
He is now a high school wrestling coach in Idaho, and said he still often thinks about the attack. After some initial jitters about going back into the backcountry again, Lowry said he’s resumed one of his favorite pastimes in hunting.
“I try and use it as a positive and a motivational tool, whether it was wrestling last year or trying to get back in the woods or whatever,” Lowry said of the experience.
And when his young athletes complain about wrestling him in practice, he has a simple response.
“I tell them, ‘If I can wrestle a bear, you can wrestle me,’” Lowry said.
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
