A farmer was seriously injured when he was trampled by a cow on his farm near Ceres in Fife.
Landowner David Blair, 75, suffered fractures and crushed vertebrae in his neck after the incident at Newbigging of Ceres Farm on Saturday morning.
Mr Blair was reportedly “lifted” up in the air by one of the beasts as she tried to protect her calves.
Sources say he was fortunate not to have suffered far more serious and possibly life-threatening injuries.
The emergency services were alerted and an air ambulance, which was in the area, was diverted to the farm shortly after 10am.
However, a doctor on-board recommended that Mr Blair should be transported to Dundee’s Ninewells Hospital by road when a ground ambulance arrived.
The helicopter then flew back to Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.
It is understood Mr Blair was kept in overnight following treatment.
He is expected to make a full recovery.
One local farm worker, who did not want to be named, described the morning’s events as a “blur”, and said Mr Blair was lucky to be alive.
“It was just a complete accident,” the worker said.
“He was basically caught by the cow protecting her calf – I know that they can be very, very protective of their babies and he just happened to be walking in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
A spokesperson for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said it was likely to be asked to investigate the circumstances behind Saturday’s incident.
The agency had not been formally notified when contacted by The Courier on Sunday.
It said people involved in non-fatal accidents have around 10 days to report them.
Incidents of this nature are rare, but cows can become aggressive to humans – particularly at this time of year when protecting calves.
Recent figures from the HSE suggest cattle are among the most dangerous animals in the UK, with four to five people on average killed in accidents involving them each year.
There were 74 fatal attacks recorded between 2000 and 2015 and, although most of those involved farm workers, a quarter of the deaths involved members of the public walking on footpaths or commonly used rights of way.
Liberal Democrat councillor Margaret Kennedy said she had been shocked to learn of what happened, describing the incident as “dramatic and extremely worrying for everyone involved”.
“I wish him a speedy recovery,” she added.
