An 85-year-old Alaskan woman saved her husband from an attacking moose by hitting the animal with a shovel until it ran off, the couple said.

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George Murphy, 82 was walking the couple's dogs back to their truck near the Willow Airport Friday when an agitated moose ran him down into a snow bank, the Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News reported Monday.

"He started to stomp. Then he turned around and stomped again. And there was nothing I could do. I was afraid he was going to kill me," Murphy told the newspaper.

His wife, Dorothea Taylor, 85, was waiting in the truck when she heard the dogs make a commotion and saw what she thought was the moose attacking their 12-year-old dog, Fellar.

When the moose turned toward her, Taylor grabbed a shovel out of the back of the truck and took a swing at the animal. When it continued to attack Murphy, Taylor gave the moose some whacks across its rump.

The moose ran off, leaving Murphy with head and leg wounds and seven broken ribs. He was in fair condition at Providence Alaska Medical Center.

"Jeez, that was a pretty hard thing for anyone to do, to walk up on a moose like that. Heck, all she had was a shovel," Murphy said of his wife, who at 5 feet tall, weighs 97 pounds.

"Well, we've helped each other out of problems before. This just happened to be the latest," Taylor said.