As far as wake-up calls go, coming to with your head between a polar bear's jaws ranks somewhere below an annoying alarm and having a bucket of water thrown on you. But that's exactly what happened to Arctic explorer Sebastian Plur Nilssen last week.

Nilssen was attacked in the Svalbard archipelago while traveling with buddy Ludvig Fjeld, as they attempted to become the first ever team to paddle 1,250 miles around the island chain. Despite booby-trapping their tent with an early warning system, a polar bear still infiltrated their set up. Nilssen was dragged from the tent with his head clamped in the animal's jaws.

The adult male bear attempted to stun Nilssen by throwing him from side-to-side, a technique used to confuse seal prey.

"It was so strong I could not fight," Nilssen said. "I grabbed for my shotgun and tried to shoot it but the polar bear had snapped the gun in half. It must have been only a minute I was in his jaws, but it felt like forever."

Nilssen's life was saved when Fjeld managed to shoot the bear. (It took four shots to fell the giant beast.) Nilssen was airlifted to the hospital and underwent three hours of emergency surgery to repair a pierced lung and stem the flow of blood from bite marks on his neck, which were inches from a vital artery.

For a video interview with Nilssen and Fjeld, keep reading.