A Russian man, wounded beyond recognition, has been rescued from a bear den after nearly a month. He claims that the animal broke his spine and kept him in there to feed on him later.

The man, identified as Alexander, went missing in the remote region of Russia’s Tuva and was discovered a month later by hunting dogs close to the Mongolian border. A video, showing his mummified appearance, and his ghostly face and body encrusted with blood and dirt, has been going viral. The hunting team, who initially thought he was dead, rushed him to the hospital when they realized he was still alive and with a broken spine (as a result of his fight with the bear).

“The bear preserved me as food for later,” the man reportedly said. He also added that he drank his own urine in order to survive.