Youngsters return home after polar bear tragedy expedition

Michael “Spike” Reid, 29, the expedition leader who shot the bear in the head during the attack in Norway on Friday, and 27-year-old fellow leader Andy Ruck left a Norwegian hospital yesterday morning while Patrick Flinders and Scott Bennell-Smith, who were sharing a tent with fatally wounded Horatio Chapple, from Salisbury, arrived back in the UK on Sunday and have been transferred to hospitals closer to home.

The eight uninjured members of the group were expected back in the UK yesterday, including 18-year-old Tim Child, from Leeds, who is understood to have returned home in the early hours.

Patrick, 16, from Jersey, has been hailed a hero after punching the 250kg animal on the nose in an attempt to fend off the attack. He suffered a fractured skull and underwent an operation in Norway to remove small pieces of bone after the bear trapped his head in its mouth.

Horatio Chapple, 17, was killed when the group, which was camping in Svalbard, Norway, with the British Schools Exploring Society (BSES) came under attack.

The remaining groups involved in the trip have returned to base camp and all will have returned to the UK by today. Relatives of those on the expedition and BSES staff will meet the group members, along with specialists such as doctors and counsellors if needed.

Patrick’s father Terry, 58, said his son’s face and head were badly swollen from where the bear had him in its mouth but that he spoke to him on the phone and he sounded well. “He said: ‘Dad, I’ve got a bone to pick with you, that bit you did in the paper where you said if the polar bear had glasses it would have gone for me because I was the chubbiest!’ All the nurses had been laughing about it.

“When he tells me off I know he’s getting back to normal.”

Scott’s parents are “extraordinarily relieved” to have him home, his headmaster said yesterday. Kieran Earley, of Devonport High School for Boys, told reporters the teenager’s jaw was broken and he had lost some teeth after being hit in the face by the bear during the attack.

The teenagers and group leaders had been camped on the Von Postbreen glacier near Longyearbyen on Svalbard, north of the Norwegian mainland.

BSES spokesman Edward Watson said: “Rest assured, we will leave no stone unturned in investigating the tragic incident on 5 August in Svalbard.

“The Norwegian authorities’ inquiries are under way. In parallel we have begun to fully review procedures, examine equipment and gather witness statements to understand if anything could have been done to prevent this tragic incident happening.

“The investigation into the Chanzin Fire incident will be chaired by an independent third party who we will appoint shortly, and we will make our findings public. I am keen that this is a transparent process for the benefit not only of our society but for the exploring community as a whole.”

He said there would be no comment about the attack itself, at the request of Norwegian authorities, until their investigation was complete.

Mr Watson added: “A young man has lost his life, and four expedition members were injured. We remain committed to supporting those affected through this particularly difficult time in their lives.”

A spokeswoman for Plymouth’s Derriford Hospital last night said Scott and Michael were both in a stable condition and were expected to remain overnight.