A man says he stepped outside to let his dog out and then noticed a bear standing next to him.

“It can’t be. I just got hit by a bear. The rest of it’s kind of a big blur,” said Andrew Meunier.

He’s still trying to piece together his memories of the bear attack that left him with 41 stitches across his face.

“It felt like somebody punched you. I mean I didn’t feel the cuts or anything. It wasn’t until I got back inside that I looked down on my hand and saw blood all over,” said Meunier.

Meunier says he let his dog out around 11pm Wednesday night when he walked outside and saw a 4ft bear standing next to him.

“I came outside and he was right there and I tried to run and it wasn’t fast enough,” said Meunier.

As the bear’s claw tore into flesh, Meunier fought to get away.

“I turned like this to try to get back in and it just did one of these and I kind of flew that way and got myself together and somehow got in the door,” said Meunier.

He says his 7-year-old daughter was asleep inside their apartment, and all he could think about was staying alive.

“That’s run through my head, what if it was awful and she came downstairs wondering where I was and there I was laying…yeah it’s scary,” said Meunier.

Meunier says once he escaped, he threw a t-shirt over his cuts and called 911.

Now Meunier says when he looks at the wound and thanks his lucky stars.

“I’m just happy to be alive. It could’ve been a totally different story,” said Meunier.