California woman mauled by bear in her home

Woman battling cancer encounters a bear

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KYMA, KECY/CNN) - A woman in California survives a bear attack while already battling cancer.

The victim, Laurel-Rose Von Hoffmann-Curzi, had an encounter with a bear in her cabin kitchen Saturday morning and mentions that "A bear mauling is not a little thing. It's huge."

She's suffering from several injuries, including deep lacerations on her chest and arms.

"I could see the freezer door half open, and food just going whoof whoof and it was like in an instant, oh my gosh. This is a bear," says Laurel-Rose. "And the next thing that happens is that I'm being torn apart."

Lauren-Rose believes the bear was only trying to get back out of the cabin since she was blocking the doorway.

The average black bear could be hundreds of pounds and can easily kill a human.

Though Lauren-Rose says she's spotted bears around her cabin before, she didn't believe she'd be attacked by one.

"I am so incredibly lucky to be alive, I mean, no question," she expressed.