Farmer speaks of cow attack horror

A farmhand who was airlifted to hospital after being trampled by a cow has spoken of his terror as he saw the animal charge towards him.

Doctors have told Mike Scrivin that he is lucky to be alive after the horrific incident at the farm where he works at Dyrham.

The 46-year-old - who has a titanium rod in his back after a previous attack by a bull - lay helpless for nearly an hour after the drama at Talbot Farm on Monday.

He had been on his way back to the farmyard from the field at lunchtime when he noticed the cow had started following him.

He said: “She was the only cow in the field so I thought she wanted to be put away.

“Then I looked around and all of a sudden she had her head down and started coming for me.”

Mr Scrivin, who was released from hospital on Tuesday, sustained serious bruising and severe tissue damage as a result of the incident, which emergency services described as a sustained attack.

Medics have told him he was lucky to survive the incident and had he been any thinner he may have been killed.

Mr Scrivin admitted: “I thought my time was up.

“I saw her coming at me and I as I turned to run away, I tripped and fell.

“I couldn’t get away from it and the cow wouldn’t get off me.”

He said he had had to poke the cow in the eyes until it eventually walked away.

He said: “I had to be very cruel or it wouldn’t have got off.

“I just kept poking and poking until it just gave up.”

The incident came six years after Mr Scrivin was attacked by a bull on the farm and as a result has recently had to have a titanium rod fitted in his back.

On Monday ambulance crews were concerned that the rod had been damaged in the recent incident and so he was taken by air ambulance to Frenchay Hospital.

He said: “I have had to have several operations since the first attack but the pain now is much worse than any of them.

“I was just getting better again after the rod was fitted and was able to move about and then this happened.”

He said he had no idea why the incident occurred.

“It was very out of character and I wish I knew why this happened.

“I was just walking and did nothing to antagonise her.

“I am just glad to be alive and I am very lucky.

“It has not put me off the cows and I will go back to the farm as soon as I can.

“I am one of these people which hates sitting around and doing nothing.”

His wife Tracy expressed her gratitude to the emergency services.

She said: “I would like to express great thanks for the wonderful ambulance and air helicopter service - we moan about the NHS but when needed they are there for us.”

Great Westerm Ambulance Service ambulance officer Ross Culligan said: “On arrival it was clear the patient had suffered quite a sustained attack and there were numerous abrasions to his back. It was at this point we requested the assistance of the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.

“We were very concerned given the fact that he was recently fitted with a titanium rod in his back following a previous incident where he was trampled by a bull.

“He was given pain relief at the scene and it was decided the most appropriate transport to hospital would be by air.

“All ambulance staff at the scene worked really well together to make the patient as comfortable as possible and transfer him to the helicopter so he could be taken directly to Frenchay.”

The attack comes just a few days after vet Liz Crowsley was trampled to death by cattle while walking her dogs in Yorkshire, while former home secretary David Blunkett suffered a broken rib in a similar incident.

The National Farmers’ Union said such incidents were rare.

A spokesman said: “Attacks often involve cattle with calves and walkers who are using public rights of way and have dogs with them.

“Cattle are usually very calm animals but occasionally they can become aggressive if, for example, they feel threatened.”

The Ramblers’ Association advised people to move carefully and quietly around cattle and keep dogs under close control.