A dog walker thought she was going to die when a rampaging cow headbutted her leaving her with a ‘monster’ black eye and a ‘wonky face’.
Cathrene Mieras, 26, was headbutted twice by the 70-stone animal as she walked her family dog on its lead through a public field near her home in Carlisle, Cumbria.
The environment officer thinks her screams may have startled the brown cow and stopped it from killing her.
She checked to make sure her pet Collie was okay and called her father and boyfriend for help after she looked at her injury on her phone’s camera where she feared her ‘eye was popping out of my head’.
She was taken to hospital and an X-ray revealed she had not broken any bones, but she was left with a giant bloodied and black right eye the size of a tennis ball. She also suffered jaw pain so severe she couldn’t eat and was forced to live on smoothies for two weeks.
Cathrene Mieras, 26, checked her injury on her phone’s camera after the attack in Carlisle, Cumbria, and initially thought her eye was popping out of her head
The swelling to her eye has now fully gone down but she says she still has numbness and doesn’t have sensation in her face
Ms Mieras was listening to her podcast at the time and had strayed from her usual route along the river in order to walk through the fields due to the unseasonably hot weather on September 4.
Recounting the horrifying moment, she said: ‘I thought it was going to kill me. It’s the most scared I’ve been in my entire life.
‘I started walking into the field, and the next thing I remember is I looked up, because I was looking down at the dog saying ‘good boy’, and this big brown cow was just charging towards me.
‘It dipped its head and headbutted me twice. The last thing I remember is this massive head hitting me.
‘It was just that one cow on its own. I don’t remember how it got off me, I think I just screamed.’
The fitness enthusiast knew there were cows grazing on the far side of the field so ‘wasn’t fazed’ and says she knows ‘pretty much every footpath in Carlisle’.
She now thinks the blazing sun might be to blame for the cow’s brutal attack.
She was taken to hospital by her father after being headbutted by a cow as she walked in a field near her home. An X-ray found she had not broken any bones
She was attacked by the 70-stone animal as she walked her family dog and believes her screams might have spooked the brown cow and saved her life
Ms Mieras was left with a giant bloodied and black right eye the size of a tennis ball and suffered jaw pain so severe she couldn’t eat for two weeks
Ms Mieras couldn’t eat for two weeks and lived off of drinking smoothies. It would be two days before she could open her eye again
‘A lot of people I spoke to said it’s possible cows are reactive in really hot weather, it was a really hot day,’ she said.
‘Or someone said the cow could’ve been spooked by a dog before, but obviously the dog wasn’t being reactive.’
During the split-second attack, Ms Mieras was charged to the ground and narrowly avoided catastrophic injuries.
She scooped her dog and ran out of the fields as far as she could before whipping out her phone to check the damage to her face.
‘My eye was this massive swollen thing, and because I was in shock, I thought that was my eyeball popping out of my head,’ she said.
‘I somehow managed to hold it together until I got to the lay-by.’
She called her father and boyfriend who both thought she said she had been hit by a car.
At Cumberland Infirmary, Ms Mieras was given painkillers through an IV drip, before being sent for an X-ray. Her ‘monster’ black eye had cause it to be swollen shut and it would be two days before she could open it again.
She had strayed from her usual route alongside the river and had chosen to walk through the fields due to the unseasonably hot weather in September
But the fitness enthusiast didn’t stop her from returning to the gym days later and even finished third in a CrossFit competition and half marathon three weeks after attack
‘When my eye opened it was full of blood and you could see the visible swelling on my jaw and this big lump on my eye,’ she said.
‘I still have numbness now, I don’t have sensation in my face.’
She added: ‘I didn’t realise how lucky I was, because I started hearing all these other horror stories about cows and people being trampled and having much worse outcomes.
‘I do consider myself very lucky that I’ve managed to come away with, touch wood, no lasting injuries, just a wonky face.’
Sporty Cathrene bravely marched back to the gym three days later and even finished third in a CrossFit competition and half marathon just three weeks later.
She thinks her fitness helped her with recovery – but now has been left with a fear of being near cows and has nearly had panic attacks.
Ms Mieras said: ‘I went on a walk on my own the other day, and wanted to see if I could go near a cow, and I did another one of my usual routes.
‘I got to the field, and I wear a fitness watch, and my heart rate was sky high. I thought I was going to have a panic attack.
‘It’s going to be a long time before I can be around them, I’m lucky to be alive.’
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