Jessica Gamboa grew up hearing you should play dead during a bear attack, and she did just that when she was pummelled by a brown bear.

The assault left her bloodied on a remote road at a military base in Alaska - but her actions probably saved her life.

She says in a videotaped interview from her hospital bed that she surrendered to the bear during the attack on May 18 at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage.

Ms Gamboa, of Sacramento, California, is married to a soldier there.

The US Army yesterday released the interview of Ms Gamboa and a combat medic who rescued her after the mauling.

Ms Gamboa and her husband were jogging at the sprawling base when they became separated.

The mauling left her with lacerations to her neck, arms and legs, and neck fractures.