Dog Walker Left In Coma For Over A Week After Being Trampled By Charging Cows

A former teacher, who spent more than a week in a coma and sustained severe injuries after she was trampled by a herd of cows, has opened up about her ordeal. The dangerous cow trampling episode occurred near the woman's home in Derbyshire, eastern England.

Pip Peacock, 63, from Bakewell was walking her dog, Buster, in the Peak district in 2019 when the attack took place. Buster was killed in the attack and Peacock spent eight days in an induced coma at a hospital after suffering life-altering injuries.

Peacock’s injuries included 34 cracks in her ribs, a broken collar bone, broken shoulder ligaments and a broken finger. Furthermore, she suffered serious wounds to her left and right knee.

She was flown by an air ambulance to reach the hospital where doctors performed a rib surgery, which required 17 titanium plates to mend the broken bones, BBC reported.

Peacock told the outlet that had it not been for the air ambulance, she would have succumbed to her injuries on her way to the hospital. It took her 10 minutes to reach the hospital by air ambulance from the site of the attack, whereas a land ambulance would have taken 45 minutes.

"My injuries were so serious I probably would not have survived if I had gone in a land ambulance to the hospital," Peacock told the outlet.

After spending three subsequent weeks at the hospital, she was allowed to go home.

Peacock detailed the horrific incident to Derbyshire Live, adding that her beloved black Labrador, Buster, dying in the attack saddened her deeply.

Peacock said she was out walking her dog in a field in her neighborhood when a cow approached her. "The first thing I recall about the attack is one cow coming for me. Then I was lying on the ground and was kicked and rolled over several times," Peacock added.

"I tried to shout for help but had no voice. I put my hands over my head and recited Psalm 23; ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures," she told the outlet.

"Suddenly, I heard voices and two men and a woman came along. The men were incredibly brave and chased the cows away, "she continued.

"This was no easy task. I could hear them shouting and was worried the cows would attack them, " Peacock told Derbyshire Live. "They used their sticks and camera tripods to move the cows away. The woman stayed and talked to me."

"Once the cows had gone, I could hear the man on the phone telling someone that my dog had been killed, but I don’t remember dropping Buster’s lead or him running away from me.

"He was very placid and loved by everyone - even some people who didn’t usually like dogs. He came to us at 18 months from the Dog’s Trust and we couldn’t have asked for a better dog," Peacock said of Buster.

There are earlier instances of people being gravely injured by a herd of cows, some even leading to deaths. In October 2012, a woman walking her dog in a field in Wiltshire of southwest England was trampled to death by cows. Her dog survived the attack. Sandra Wiltshire, 68, was declared dead on the scene. UK’s The National Farmers Union (NFU) had said in a statement that cows can become aggressive, especially when they walk with their calves, at the sight of a dog thinking the canine could harm their calves.