Good samaritan lucky to not lose his leg after cow attack

 Submitted by Araminta Hartley GNAAS 14th March 2023

Paramedic Lee Salmon, Charles Hird, Martin Keegan, Sue Wass and Dr John Ferris

A man who was lucky to not lose his leg after being trampled by a cow has been reunited with the

paramedic who helped him a year later.

Charlie Hird, 64, from Alston, was on a group walk near Hallbankgate when he was injured after trying

to help a couple who were being attacked by a cow.

Recalling the incident, he said: “The cow was going berserk. I thought somebody’s going to die.

“So I intervened to try and draw the cow off, and in doing so I stepped back into a gutter and the cow

followed me, stumbled and fell on top of me.

“So I'm now stuck underneath the cow. Honest to God, I thought that was it. But then the cow stood

up and that's when the cow stood on my femur. At the same time she also brought one of her legs

forward and clipped my head, giving me a big gash down the side of my head.

“I tried to stand up, and as soon as I did, I realised my leg was broken because I came crashing back

down to the ground again.”

The cow then left Mr Hird alone to search for her calf, who had wandered off, which gave him chance

to crawl away from the scene of the incident and be spotted by his fellow walkers.

He said: “There was Trish, and she was looking at the other people and then spotted me under the wall

not looking very good, and that’s when they dialled 999 and got the ambulance.

“They stayed on the phone while we were waiting for the ambulance and that’s when I started to

deteriorate. I think the adrenaline was wearing off and then the woman on the phone said, ‘I’ve heard

enough we’re getting the helicopter’, which was quite a relief for me.

“I heard the helicopter and that was quite an amazing thing. It's just a beautiful feeling to hear the

helicopter coming because you know it's help. I can't put into words how I felt about that.”

The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) and the North West Ambulance Service arrived on

scene to help Mr Hird and began assessing and treating his injuries.

He said: “After they started to work on my leg, they tried to take my boot off, that made me scream for

the first time.

“So then the doctor from GNAAS said, ‘I'm just going to give you a load of ketamine’, which knocked

me out and they worked on my leg and got me onto the helicopter.

“I came to in the helicopter, hallucinating a little bit with the ketamine and really wondered where the

heck I was because all I could hear was the very loud noise of the helicopter. The team were writing

little notes and handed them up to me to see if I was alert and awake and then we landed at the RVI.”

After arriving at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, Mr Hird was given a 50/50 chance of losing

his leg and underwent a six-hour operation to save it, leading to him having a piece of titanium fitted in

his leg.

He said: “A lot of people wondered why I was happy and cheery when I was in hospital and I think that

was because, one I was still alive, and two I still had my leg, which was a big thing.”

Mr Hird spent more than two weeks in hospital recovering before embarking on a long period of

physiotherapy to help him walk again.

A year after the incident, Mr Hird was reunited with GNAAS paramedic Lee Salmon who treated him

and thanked Mr Salmon for his help.

He said: “I was a bit apprehensive at first, but I really wanted to come and see the helicopter because I

didn't have a lot of memory of it, and also meet the people that rescued me that day.”

Mr Salmon, who is the head of operations in Cumbria for GNAAS, said: “Charlie is a good Samaritan in

every sense of the word. His actions that day may well have saved a life as he bravely intervened, to his

personal detriment.

“Regardless, it was uplifting to meet Charlie and hear how his recovery was going.  Every year we

attend a significant number of incidents involving cows with calves at foot, and it’s often so serious

that there is little we can do.  I hope people read Charlie's story and understand the dangers that may

seemingly pop out of nowhere.”

About GNAAS

 The Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) is a charitably funded air ambulance service

which provides life-saving care throughout the North East, North Yorkshire, and Cumbria.

 They operate two helicopters 365 days a year and also operate a night-time service in the

North East and Cumbria on rapid response vehicles.

 The aircraft cover an area of about 8,000 square miles and on board are specialist doctors and

paramedics who effectively bring the hospital to the patient.

 The level of skill and expertise of the on-board team mean they respond to the most critically

ill and injured people, giving them the best chance of survival.

 GNAAS is a progressive organisation which has pioneered pre-hospital care in the region.

 The latest techniques, equipment and drugs are constantly being evaluated to ensure the

charity can provide the best care possible for their patients.

 2022 marked the service providing 20 years of life-saving care. Throughout this time, they have

responded to more than 23,500 incidents across the region, with road traffic collisions being

the most frequent type of incident responded to by the team.

 They do not receive Government funding and must therefore raise £7.7m a year through public

donations to remain operational.

For more information visit: https://www.greatnorthairambulance.co.uk/ or follow @gnairambulance

on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok

For press enquiries please email media@gnaas.com or call 07554453494