Miracle escape for trail runner
‘THEY KNOCKED ME FACE DOWN IN A COW PAT’
Reporter LUCKY-TO-BE-ALIVE Michael Harris has told how he somehow survived being trampled underfoot by a herd of cattle.
The experienced trail runner was out for a run with his dog at Garrigill near Alston in Cumbria when he was injured.
The 52-year-old from Newcastle was with his dog Ellie, a German wirehaired pointer, when he was surrounded by cows and trampled to the ground in October last year.
He described the moment he was knocked down into a cow pat and stamped on by the herd.
He said: “We’ve had a cottage in Nenthead for 15 years and I’ve ran the same route in that area without encountering any problems before.
“During my run on the Saturday I came to a field with cows in it but there were no warning signs. I assessed the area and could see the stile at the other side of the field, so I thought I would be okay.
“I entered the field and I could see more cattle in that area, the cows then started moving and a group surrounded me.
“They knocked me face down in a cow pat and it was an incredible experience because I wondered what was going to happen, I thought maybe that was it for me.
“I didn’t know what to do because they were standing on me but for some reason they eventually cleared.”
Mr Conroy Harris managed to leave the field and make his way to a road nearby, where he flagged down a driver who made a phone call to his wife Alexandra Conroy Harris.
She picked him up and took him to