Gran’s leg shattered in horrific 45-minute attack by raging ram

A grandmother had to be airlifted to hospital for emergency surgery after a 45-minute attack by an aggressive sheep in the Hebrides.

Sheena Nicolson suffered a badly broken leg after the ram knocked her to the ground and repeatedly headbutted her while she was out walking.

The ordeal ended only when she was spotted lying in agony by a farmer who chased the sheep away and raised the alarm.

The 61-year-old, who spent 12 days in hospital, said: ‘I suffered nightmares for weeks after it. 

The lower part of my thigh bone was shattered. My femur was completely split. My knee was out of joint and shattered.

Sheena had to be flown to Paisley for surgery after her attack  

The ram attacked her and repeatedly headbutted her while she was out walking

Sheena’s journey: Mountain rescue and a Coastguard helicopter removed Sheena Nicolson to RAH hospital in Paisley where she underwent major surgery. After surgery she had to endure being flown back to her flat in Orkney

‘The consultant said it was the equivalent of a shooting with a high-powered rifle.’

Ms Nicolson, from Orkney, had been on holiday on the Inner Hebridean island of Lismore in January when the sheep charged at her after she stopped to enjoy the views.

The attack left her foot ‘dangling’ as she suffered a broken thighbone and a dislocated knee.

Her mobile phone was in her pocket but she was unable to reach it and the ram became more aggressive as she tried to fight it off.

A surge of adrenaline at first helped her cope with the pain and terror but she had heard her leg break with a ‘crack’ and feared the ram would butt her face.

Ms Nicolson told the Scottish Sun: ‘He kept coming back. He was walking around me, trying to get into my backpack and was putting his hoof in it.

‘I smacked him with my bag and good leg but that made it worse. He was trying to break my arm on the same side. I was lying in a pool of water and I was starting to get really cold.

‘Suddenly, he just calmed down and stopped, but my arm was black up by my shoulder. I thought at one point he was going to headbutt me in the face.’

A farmer finally rescued her and used two sheepdogs to chase the ram away.

Ms Nicolson said: ‘Finally mountain rescue and a Coastguard helicopter removed me to hospital in Paisley where I underwent major surgery. 

But then I had to endure other hassles like being flown back to my flat in Orkney, which I was unable to leave for three months because I couldn’t walk.

‘Nobody else has heard of such a severe attack from what is normally classed as “gentle, harmless livestock”.’

Sheep attacks on humans in the UK are rare but rams can become aggressive, especially during the mating season in autumn.

A 94-year-old man died in France in 2016 after being charged and trampled by a ‘notoriously aggressive sheep’ while he was out for a walk.