Third operation for polar bear attack hero 'unable to talk or eat'

The man who shot dead a polar bear that killed a British student in Norway had his third operation today for injuries he suffered.

Michael "Spike" Reid, 29, was a leader on the Arctic expedition in which Eton pupil Horatio Chapple, 17, was mauled to death.

Mr Reid is in a stable condition in Derriford Hospital in his home city of Plymouth. This morning he said he was to undergo surgery to repair head injuries. Writing on Twitter, he said: "Another day, another operation. I'm now going into my 3rd. Please cross your fingers for me."

He has already tweeted about surgery to repair a broken jaw, fractured skull and eye-socket damage, writing that he had been left unable to breathe, talk or eat.

He was with a group of students on a British Schools Exploring Society expedition, camping on the Von Postbreen glacier near Longyearbyen on Svalbard, north of the Norwegian mainland.

Mr Reid managed to shoot the bear in the head, but not before it had killed Horatio and injured students Patrick Flinders from Jersey and Scott Bennell-Smith from Cornwall. They were all sharing a tent.

Fellow expedition leader Andy Ruck, 27, was also badly mauled in the attack on August 5.