By ELIZABETH BINNING
A 69-year-old stockyard worker is paralysed from the waist down after an enraged bull impaled him with its horns and threw him against a wall.
Avon Winikerei's spine was shattered when a 3-year-old charolais-cross bull broke through a steel gate and attacked him at the Frankton sale yards
in Hamilton.
The experienced stock handler was standing behind the gate when the angry bull charged.
With its horns, it tore through a sheet of metal, lifted the gate off its hinges and impaled Mr Winikerei through his left shoulder. It then threw him against a wall.
Mr Winikerei was taken to Waikato Hospital with a gaping hole in his shoulder, a pierced lung and a broken back.
The Ngaruawahia father of five is now in Middlemore Hospital's spinal unit, where he has been told he is unlikely to walk again.
Waikato Farmers livestock manager Bill Sweeney said the pen from which the bull escaped had always been a safe and secure area.
"This beast was just that wild and that strong. We have now taken precautions so that will never happen again.
"The gate has been bolted so it can't be lifted off its hinges."
Bulls such as the charolais-cross, which had come from a remote farm and had had little contact with people, have been known to get aggressive in the stockyards.
Stockyard workers say the tragedy would have been prevented had the bull been dehorned.
Farmers and stock handlers pushed several years ago for a national regulation which would require all cattle to be dehorned as calves.
Despite an overwhelming show of support, the change never happened.
An Occupational Safety and Health spokeswoman said the accident was still being investigated.
The accident is the second serious incident at the Frankton stockyard. Three years ago a 60-year-old Hamilton man died from head injuries after a bull he was herding down a ramp turned and charged at him.
Mr Winikerei's daughter Christine said she would like to see safety measures improved at the yard.
She said her father had undergone two operations since the accident, which happened two weeks ago.
The bull, which was being sold by Wrightson, was slaughtered immediately after the accident.
