what would hurt more: being gored by a wild animal, or being called a ‘jogger’?

Fox News ran a headline stating a “jogger” had been gored by 2,000-pound bison while on morning run. The victim, 26 year old Craig Neilson, is in training to run an ultra. So, the dude clearly ain’t a jogger. Ouch.

All joking aside, it was a rare but painful incident. He had seen a bison while out on a run, stopped to take a look, but startled the animal. It charged. While Neilson made for a cluster of trees, he slipped in some mud.

From an article at CTV News:

“Basically, right after I stopped running and after I saw him, he looked up, saw me and immediately charged,” Neilson recalled. “This is a pretty large animal and he’s wild, so him coming right at me was actually kind of terrifying.”

Neilson says he then tried to run away, but slipped and fell. That’s when the bison gored him.

“It was his left horn, into my left butt cheek,” he said. “Right after he hit me, I had just enough time to scurry into the trees before he could do anything else — before he could hit me again or stomp on me.”

Neilson was eventually able to get back to the road where he flagged down a passing vehicle that brought him to a patrolling sheriff. The officer administered first aid while they waited for paramedics to arrive.

From the FOX News article:

Although Neilson initially thought it was “cool” to see a bison in real life, his first impression quickly turned when the bulky animal began to charge.

Quick-thinking Neilson began to run toward a cluster of trees, which he knew the bison wouldn’t be able to fit through.

But as he ran toward the forest, he slipped in the mud allowing the bison to catch up to him and dig its curved horn right into the runner’s left bum cheek.

The impact tossed Neilson forward, where he was able to seek refuge in the trees as blood gushed out of his 2-inch-deep, 3-inch-wide wound.

…

Despite the pain, Neilson, who is expecting his first child with Amberly, who is eight months pregnant, has been able to see the funny side of his unusual injury.

“It is kind of funny. All my friends have been making fun of me,” he said. “I mean a bison hit me in the butt. I think it was a freak accident because there has only been one other case of a bison attack in this park.”

Image of bison by Jack Dykinga – This image was released by the Agricultural Research Service, the research agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, with the ID K5680-1 (next)., Public Domain, Link

Image of the injury is via the Fox News article.

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