An Arctic expedition team leader recounts the story of how he tried to save a British schoolboy against a huge polar bear in 2011.

In an interview with Express UK, Michael Reid, the expedition's team leader, recounts his confrontation with a polar bear that led to the death Horatio Chapple, 17.

Like Us on Facebook

"I remember the bear biting my head and I thought 'the weakest part of this bear is its eyes," Reid told Express UK.

Chapple, an Eton student from Salisbury, Wiltshire, went on an adventure holiday to the remote Svalbard islands together with the rest of the British Schools Exploring Society (BSES) in August 2011.

Reid, 31, said he heard screams about a "bear-attack" morning of August 5. He saw a polar bear slashed itself through the tents that prompted him to run to the young explorer's aid.

Reid tried to shoot the polar bear with his rifle, but it did not fire while it attacked one of the teenagers.

According to Reid, the polar bear took notice of him and then attacked him.

The struggle left him battered with a broken jaw, damaged eyesockets and a fractured skull. During the struggle, he tried to gouge the bear's eyes thinking it was its weak point, but Reid was unsuccessful.

The encounter with the polar bear led to Chapple's death with three more injured, including Andrew Ruck, 27, the trip's leader. Among those injured were Patrick Flinders from New Jersey, and Scott Benell-Smith from Conrwall, UK.

Tagspolar bear, Horation Chapple, bear attack, Arctic