Woman ‘severely injured’ after saving granddaughter from being trampled by cows

Mountain bikers try to chase off animals as grandmother protects six-year-old

The woman sustained multiple, severe injuries (Jed Stone/OVMRO)

A woman has been severely injured after she shielded her six-year-old granddaughter from a charging herd of cows.

The pair were walking two dogs along a footpath near the Welsh village of Capel Curing, in Snowdonia, on Sunday afternoon when the incident took place.

Two mountain bikers came to the pair’s aid and initially chased off the herd.

But the cows charged a second time and the woman was trampled while protecting the child, rescuers said.

“Severely injured, she was assisted by passers by,” an Ogwen Valley Mountain Rescue Organisation (OVMRO) spokesperson said.

An ambulance and air ambulance arrived nearby and a team of rescuers carried the woman from the hill to the helicopter.

“She was flown to Stoke trauma centre,” the OVMRO spokesperson said.

The grandmother is believed to have sustained multiple injuries.

“The cows were going nuts, circling around them and getting closer and closer. There was a large bull as well,” Alun Jones, one of the mountain bikers who tried to help the pair, told North Wales Live.

“We went over to see if we could help and expected the animals would move on with a little persuasion, but they were foaming at the mouth, and the bull was digging its head into the ground and rutting with its front legs.

“The cows dropped back about 50 to 100 metres and at that point the lady and the little girl and my brother made a run for the fence line.

“But the cows unfortunately charged... the cows hit her and kept hitting her before we could get her out.”

The child was taken to Glan Clwyd Hospital but was released a short time later.

One of the dogs, a border terrier called Billy, was missing in the aftermath of the accident but has now been found.

“Wales Air Ambulance attended the scene of a trauma incident in the Capel Curig area on Sunday, June 9,” a spokesperson told Wales Online.

“The Charity’s Caernarfon-based aircraft was tasked and arrived on scene at 1.22pm.

“The Welsh Flying Medics treated a patient at scene before airlifting them to the Royal Stoke University Hospital.

“Our involvement concluded at 3.48pm.”

The grandmother remains in hospital and her condition is currently unknown.