A woman has been left with horrific injuries after a herd of cows “crushed” her while she played dead in a bid to save her own life.
Mary-Jane Parker, 61, had been hiking with her dog Lola in the Scottish Highlands in August when a herd of cows suddenly appeared.
She hadn’t noticed them in the Newtonmore hiking area because they were hidden behind a bank of high ground.
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Ms Parker, who has only just spoken out about her ordeal, told the BBC it was only seconds after she saw that that she was entirely surrounded, before one of the cows “put its head down and started thumping the ground”.
“I was terrified. I couldn’t escape,” she said. Her dog Lola managed to break free of her collar and ran away.
Two cows then “crushed” the 61-year-old between them before she was swept up from the ground and dragged along as they charged off.
“Next thing I knew I was tossed up in the air, then crashed back to earth,” she said.
The terrifying encounter was over in minutes, but left Ms Parker with serious injuries.
“I saw a massive wound on my left leg – my calf was ripped open from knee to ankle and the muscle was hanging out,” she said.
As she lay on the ground unaware of the full extent of her injuries, the cows stayed put.
“The cows didn’t move off – I was terrified they would trample me or attack me again,” Ms Parker said.
“I decided to play dead – keep as still as I could and hope they moved away without hurting me further.”
She was left in agonising pain for more than 45 minutes before the SOS alert she had triggered on her Garmin wristband was finally answered.
“I lay still, pretending to be dead. I could feel one of the animals snuffling at my head,” she said.
“A second was licking my bleeding wounds while a third kept pawing at my foot.
“The danger was far from over.”
Minutes before first responders arrived, some hikers found Ms Parker and rushed to help her while securing her dog.
Police and paramedics then transported her off the hill and into an ambulance.
“The pain was crippling – I’ve never experienced anything like it,” she said.
Paramedics rushed her rushed to hospital where she underwent an X-ray and went into surgery.
She suffered 10 broken ribs, a broken right hand, a broken sternum, pooling of blood in the best wall, bruised lungs, major leg trauma and bruising to her head, face and body.
After spending 10 days in hospital and undergoing multiple surgeries, Ms Parker was able to return to her Peebles home.
Her recovery is still ongoing.
“I’m so grateful every day when I wake up and know I am still alive,” she said.
“What a gift it is, to be given that second chance.”
