Elderly farmer trampled by cattle 'lucky to be alive'

The incident comes just days after the Farm Safety Partnership launched a livestock safety campaign
The incident comes just days after the Farm Safety Partnership launched a livestock safety campaign

An elderly farmer is 'lucky to be alive' after he sustained serious injuries following an incident with a cow on his Fife farm.

75-year-old David Blair suffered fractures and crushed vertebrae in his neck after he was trampled by a cow on his farm in Newbigging, near Ceres.

The incident happened on Saturday morning (6 April) and comes just days after the Farm Safety Partnership launched a livestock safety campaign.

One local farm worker told The Scottish Sun that the incident was a 'blur' and that Mr Blair was lucky to be alive.

“It was just a complete accident. 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,” he told the paper.

It follows two separate incidents involving livestock within days of each other, further highlighting the safety precautions farmers should take when tending to animals.

Perthshire farmer Murray Alexander was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries on 31 March after he was injured by a cow.

Meanwhile, emergency services were called to a farm in Bletchingly, Surrey in March after a farmer was injured by a cow she had been helping to give birth to a calf.

The NFU and Farm Safety Partnership are encouraging farmers to select, use and maintain well-designed handling facilities and to be cautious when entering a cattle enclosure.

NFU Vice President and FSP chairman Stuart Roberts said: “A lot of it is common sense which can be easily overlooked when you’re busy or tired; taking extra precautions when a cow is with a calf, maintaining handling facilities so they are fully fit for purpose, not simply selling on an aggressive animal to another farmer.

“If we can take a second to identify where the risks are, we can actually take those risks away.”