Wolf Attacks New Jersey Family, Tries To Drag Father Away

“It was like something out of a horror movie.”

This was how Elisa Rispoli described what happened when a wolf attacked her and her family while they were sleeping in their tents at Banff National Park in Canada. The New Jersey family were tucked in their sleeping bags when the animal “came upon them” Thursday night.

On her Facebook post, Elisa wrote that her husband, Matt, “literally threw his body” in front of her and their two kids to protect them from the wolf who ripped their tent apart.

“We were screming for help as he was fighting it and trying to save us,” she said on her post. “I laid my body on top of the kids and Matt pinned the wolf to the ground and held open its jaw with his hands.”

The wolf aslo tried to drag Matt away from the tent, but Elisa countered by pulling her husband's legs.

For Elisa, the attack lasted for around one to three minutes, but it felt like an eternity for her.

“I cannot and don't think I'll ever be able to properly describe the terror,” she said.

Fortunately for the Rispoli family, a “guardian angel” heard their screams and came to their aide.

Elisa later found out that their rescuer was named Russ Fee, who was at a tent site next to them. Fee quickly came over to their site and kicked the wolf. The animal finally let go of Matt.

“They had to continue to throw huge rocks at the wolf,” recalled Elisa. While the men were trying to fend off the wolf, she and her kids ran to Russ' mini van for safety.

But the wolf wasn't finished. It continued to follow Matt.

Elisa's post about the terrorizing attacked stopped there, but added that the rest of night came as a “blur of EMTs, good Samaritans, waiting for treatment, no phone service and crying.”

“We are pretty traumatized but ok,” added Elisa on her post. She wrote at while they were at Banff Hospital where Matt's multiple puncture wounds and lacerations on his arm were treated. He was later released.

“I felt like I had kind of punched someone that was way out of my weight class,” Fee said while being interview by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The family's guardian angel continued by saying that instinct took over him after they heard their screams and that the wolf “was just so much larger than any dog” he's seen.

“It could have been so much worse, and we are just feeling so thankful that we are still sitting here as a complete family,” said Elisa as she praised her husband for being their “absolute hero,” and Russ for saving Matt's life.

The wolf who attacked Elisa and her family was killed by Parks Canada. It was confirmed through a post by the Banff National Park that DNA results confirmed that it was “destroyed.”