Navarone Garcia Details Being 'Attacked' by a Camel Days Before Half-Sister Lisa Marie Presley's Death

Just days before his half-sister Lisa Marie Presley died of a cardiac arrest at age 54 on Jan. 12, Navarone Garibaldi Garcia had a near-fatal experience of his own.

While on a visit to an animal sanctuary outside of Los Angeles with their mother, Priscilla Presley, the Them Guns musician, 35, says a 2,000 lb. camel suddenly turned on him while he was feeding it.

"When I ran out of food, it bit me by the hand and lifted me up almost off my feet," Navarone tells PEOPLE. "It then dropped me on the ground and pounced. While it was pouncing on me, it literally got my whole head in its mouth and bit me."

Since the camel — who had previously been abused in a circus — was so heavy, Navarone says the sanctuary workers couldn't get it off. Fortunately, there was a dog on site who helped him.

"The dog knew something was wrong and was freaking out and going at its face," he says. "That's what got the camel off."

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As Presley, 77, watched the horror unfold, Navarone says she was also "freaking out." "She was traumatized," he says.

Though the sanctuary had called 911 during the attack, Navarone says that he wanted to drive back to his home in L.A., about an hour away, to go to the hospital there.

"When we got to the emergency room, it was funny because everybody was sitting there with nothing too serious looking, meanwhile I had blood all over me," he says.

Adds Navarone's Them Guns bandmate Kyle Hamood: "The photos that he sent me didn't look real. I thought that he was starring in a horror movie photoshoot or something."

Navarone Garibaldi Garcia

Thirty-four staples in his head later, Navarone says he felt good as new.

"I mean, I was happy I survived before, but now it's like, thank God I survived," he says. "My mom would've lost two kids in two weeks."

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The attack was yet another dark blip in a lifetime of ups and downs for Navarone, who tells his story — including life with his mom, his recovery from fentanyl addiction and discovering the truth about the background of his father, producer Marco Garibaldi — in this week's issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.

Luckily, "I heal quick," he says with a smile.

For more on Navarone Garibaldi Garcia's life, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.