A 17-Year-Old Fought a Bear to Save Her Dogs in a Now-Viral Video

If you’re an #online person, you’ve probably seen the video of a person protecting their dogs by literally pushing a bear all over your timelines – but what you might not know is that that person is only a teenager: 17-year-old Hailey Morinico from Bradbury, California.

The video, which was first posted to TikTok by one of Hailey’s cousins, has accumulated over 68 million views. “My cousin Hailey yeeted a bear off her fence today and saved her dogs. How was your Memorial Day?!” TikTok account @bakedlikepie posted, adding a slew of hashtags that included terms like “bad*ss” and “brave.”

Set to Kreepa’s now-viral “Oh No,” we know something bad is going to happen as soon as the video starts, but nobody could have quite anticipated the ensuing events. The video shows one bear and its two cubs making their way over the bricked fence of a backyard. Moments later, a large dog, followed by three small ones, comes into the scene barking at the intruders. 

Things get tense and the bear cubs promptly flee, but mama bear is still swiping at the dogs. When it looks like it’s gotten ahold of one of the small ones, Hailey appears, rushing to save her dogs by, well, shoving the bear off the fence. She then quickly picks up one of the small dogs that was still close by, and they run off to safety. The video was also posted with its original sound to Instagram. 

Because this is the internet we’re talking about, the video has since been reposted across multiple platforms, and Hailey’s boldness has shocked and amazed many – including her own family. "I felt a mixture of shock and a little proud of her because of how brave she is," Hailey's cousin Brenda, who originally posted the video, told Buzzfeed News. "We immediately told her to NEVER do that again. She loves those dogs very much!" 

Hailey also appeared in a follow-up TikTok explaining what happened. “I’m the person who fought off a bear to protect her kids,” the 17-year-old says in it. “To preface this, I live in the mountains so this is actually really common in summer.” She also says she thought her dogs were barking at other dogs but when she realized it was actually a bear that was about to pick up her smallest dog, named Valentina, her first instinct was to save her.

So, without hesitation, she approached the bear and pushed it “enough to make it lose its balance.” In the process, she sprained her finger and scraped her knee – which, is not that bad, all things considered.

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Originally Appeared on Teen Vogue