Russian man ‘attacked by bear’ dies from sepsis caused by chronic skin condition
A tragic emaciated “living mummy” who was wrongly reported as having been mauled by a bear has died of sepsis , according to doctors.
A harrowing video showing Alexander Proskurin covered in wounds was released last month, amid claims in Russian media he had survived in a bear’s den for four weeks.
But doctors in neighbouring Kazakhstan insisted he was a 41-year-old patient who had never been attacked by a bear and was instead suffering from skin condition chronic psoriasis.
A senior medic in Kazakh city Aktobe has now confirmed that the former oil worker died from sepsis caused by a “large infected wound”.
Head of Aktobe Emergency Hospital, Saken Kapanov, said: “He was brought to our intensive care unit in very bad condition and died within a few days.”
The man died on 25 July but details were only released after his funeral.
“The cause of death was sepsis,” said Dr Kapanov.
“He had large infected wound.”
The bizarre story began with a Russian news agency EADaily claiming that a video showed “living mummy” named Alexander.
The publication claimed that he had been overpowered by a bear which dragged him to its lair in the Siberian region of Tuva.
“The bear preserved me as food for later,” the man was quoted as saying.
But every hospital in Tuva denied he had been a patient.
Chief doctor of Aktobe Medical Centre in Kazakhstan, Dr Rustam Isaev, insisted Proskurin was one of his patients.
The man had been illegally filmed by medics and the footage released on the web, he said, and vowed to expose and “fire” those responsible.
“As chief doctor here I'm saying you, this is our guy, he is not from Tuva nor anywhere else in Russia,” he said.
He had suffered from chronic psoriasis and his serious condition progressed after failing to receive adequate treatment.
“He neglected his psoriasis, and in such a state he was brought to us.”
A picture shows him in hospital in Aktobe, which is some 1,600 miles from Kyzyl, the area where the the bear den incident was supposed to have happened.
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