Rogue bull tosses farmer 2m into air

Bulls. Photo / Supplied

A farmer was recovering in hospital last night after being charged at by a bull which threw him almost two metres into the air.

Chum Neal, a beef and sheep farmer in Pomarangai, near Te Kuiti, was working with a herd of bulls yesterday when one turned on him.

Trying to escape the animal, the 53-year-old ran towards a fence but did not reach it.

His wife, Glenys, told the Herald last night: "The bull got him and flicked him over six feet high over the fence and he landed on his back.

"He was just dealing with some bulls in the yard as normal and then this happened."

It is understood the animal was a Hereford bull and weighed about 800kg.

The accident happened about 3pm and workers who were with Mr Neal raised the alarm.

He was flown by the Westpac Waikato Air Ambulance to Waikato Hospital with what were believed to be spinal injuries.

Last night Mrs Neal, who was with her husband at the hospital, said he was undergoing assessment and getting x-rays to determine whether he had spinal injuries.

However, she said his condition was not thought to be serious as
she had spoken and laughed with him.

"He's in good spirits. He's not the sort of man who will let something like this get to him. We being farmers, we have run-ins with animals all the time," she laughed.

Back at the farm in Te Kuiti, son Warrick Neal, 21, said the family had been giving his dad a hard time about the accident.

"He was actually out replacing me because I recently got an operation done. But he couldn't hack it ..."