Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
NEWCASTLE, Iron County — A Newcastle man was severely injured this week after getting attacked by a bull he was helping to get off a stranger's property.
Mark Sargent, 44, was going for a typical drive Monday with his wife when they decided to stop by Old Irontown. That's when Sargent saw a man trying to get cattle off his property, and since he has a background in cattle, Sargent decided to help him.
"I've been around cattle most of my life, so that's why I stopped off and I helped. I'm not a stranger around livestock," he said.
The two herded a couple cows off the property, then Sargent used his truck to push a huge bull toward the gate at the end of the property.
Once the bull was at the gate, Sargent got out of the truck. But the aggressive bull — instead of continuing through the gate — turned around and ran back toward him.
The bull threw Sargent more than 15 feet in the air and 25 feet down the hill, busting up his hip bone and pelvic bone and bruising several ribs.
"It just happened so quick that I couldn't do anything about it other than protect my head. That's basically what was going through my mind is protect my head because if he had hit me directly on my head, he would've killed me. So I took most of the blow in my hip and my side area," he said.
While waiting for an ambulance to arrive, Sargent said he saw the property owner and the cattle owner get into a physical fight. He wasn't sure what it was about or how it got solved, as he was preoccupied with his "very painful" injuries.
"I was trying to get up and get to the truck and make myself as comfortable as possible, which did not happen," he said.
Sargent underwent hip replacement surgery and is now facing a long recovery. He expects to be in the hospital until Saturday.
Sargent isn't sure why the cattle were on the property initially, or why the cattle owner wasn't helping them get the cattle off the property. But since he happened to be there, Sargent said he just wanted to help.
"I'm just irritated because, obviously, it's not a very nice animal and there's little kids running around there. If that would have happened to one of them kids, it would've killed them."
The bull tried to ram two other guys who were with Sargent and the property owner, but the bull only connected with him, he said.
The Iron County Sheriff's Office issued a press release Tuesday that said one man was gored by a bull and two other men were involved in a physical altercation, but it had very few details. Sargent emphasized he was not gored by the bull — since the bull did not have horns — and he was only thrown by the animal.
The sheriff's office statement said the men involved in the altercation did not press charges against each other, and the bull's owner was located and the bull was removed from the area.
Sargent used to be a bull rider, but said he is going to be staying away from cattle for a while after this experience. Sargent's sister set up a GoFundMe fundraiser* to help pay for his medical expenses.
*KSL.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisers and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
