Cow attack victim warns walkers

A victim of a cow attack has warned walkers of the dangers of cattle kept in fields with their calves.

Jacqui Beale, 48, suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung, and was left needing stitches to her face after she was “bashed about” while walking her dog.

The dog groomer told how she was left in fear for her life when the animals went for her in May this year as she came across them with their young.

“The dog was on a lead, but they weren’t going for the dog, they came for me and knocked me over,” she said.

“I was bashed about by about eight cows. I remember being tossed from one to another and thinking I wasn’t going to survive.

“All I could hear was snorting and breathing, it was terrifying.”

Ms Beale, from Wirksworth in Derbyshire, managed to get herself to safety, but warned others who may be unprepared for attacks.

She said: “If I had had a child with me or had been an old person who couldn’t get out of the field, it would have been even worse. You wouldn’t expect it.”