A grandad was thrown 8ft into the air and trampled on by an angry cow he was trying to escape. He spent a week in intensive care after his attempt to flee left him with six broken ribs and lung and spleen damage.
Steve Adams, 63, fell victim to the "aggressive" animal while using a legal right of way. At the time of the attack, he was on holiday in Devon with his wife Jane.
The father-of-three said he was now terrified of walking into fields with cows. The farmer responsible for the herd was prosecuted for allowing cows with calves in a field with public access, with a court told the animals could become aggressive if they perceived a threat to their young.
Mr Adams, from Coleshill in the West Midlands, told Birmingham Live: "My grandfather was a farmer, so I’d been around cattle as a child, and I wasn’t scared of them. Now, I wouldn’t go into a field with cows, you don’t know what’s going to happen. People should be very wary of cows."
Mr Adams and his wife were on holiday Sidbury in July 2021 when they went for a walk with their dog. They walked along a public footpath, with their route taking them from a pub through to fields.
The couple headed towards a pedestrian gate at the edge of a field and came to an electric fence bordering it. They then found themselves surrounded by more than 20 cattle, some with calves.
A cow approached Mr Adams, lowered its head and tossed him high into the air before trampling on him until he crawled away. The grandfather of two, a retired transport worker, said he was "thrown into the air", with the cow then treading "all over me".
He said: "It was just the one cow, the biggest one. I was trying to crawl out of the way, but it just kept landing its hooves on me. The dog was on its lead and I’d managed to let it go and it made it away.
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"My wife had one of those plastic ball throwers for the dog and she was hitting the cow with it but it made no difference at all. I managed to roll away from under it.
"I wasn’t feeling too good at all, I couldn’t breathe. It had taken us about 15 minutes to walk to where it happened, but it took us about two and half hours to make it back to the van.
"An ambulance was called to the site and they said straight away that I’d broken my ribs. It was a pretty scary day. I don’t walk too much now. I’m not as healthy as I was, and I can still feel my injuries now."
Injuries were 'totally preventable'
A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation found cattle with young calves were being kept in a field with a public right of way across it. The animals are known to be protective, unpredictable and can pose a risk to walkers - especially to those with dogs. Farmers should not put cattle with young calves in fields with a public right of way, the HSE said.
Barry Fowler, of Sidbury, Sidmouth, admitted breaching Section 3(2) of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974. He was fined £555 and ordered to pay £3,000 costs at Exeter Magistrates Court on March 8.
HSE inspector Simon Jones said: "The serious injuries to Mr Adams sustained when he has attacked and trampled by cattle with their calves was totally preventable. Cattle are extremely protective of their calves and even calm cattle can become aggressive if they think the calves may, in any way, be threatened, even by members of the public walking past.
"Farmers should not place cattle with calves in fields where members of the public have a legal right to walk unless appropriate measures are in place such as robust fencing separating cattle from people. Had Fowler done this then the incident could not have happened."
