A 59-year-old woman tragically lost her life after being trampled by a group of cows while walking her dog, according to a coroner’s hearing held recently. The incident occurred as Rebecca Jane Hitchings was out with her dog on Exmoor in Devon. Ms. Hitchings, a retired nurse residing in Woodcombe near Minehead, Somerset, passed away in a Plymouth hospital following the unfortunate event.
Authorities discovered Ms. Hitchings in a field with severe injuries and promptly airlifted her to Plymouth’s Derriford Hospital. Despite efforts by medical professionals, she could not be saved. Her cause of death was determined to be hemorrhagic shock resulting from blunt trauma, with her date of passing noted as Thursday, 16th October.
The coroner, Philip Spinney, mentioned that the inquest was adjourned for a comprehensive hearing at a later date, likely to be transferred to the Somerset coroner’s office. This incident follows a recent case where an 85-year-old hiker in Austria was fatally trampled by cows while walking with his wife and dog.
The elderly couple, aged 85 and 82, were attacked by nine cows on their way to a mountain hut in Ramsau am Dachstein in Austria’s Styria province. Witnesses speculated that the cows may have been startled by the couple’s dog, leading to the sudden aggression.
Good Samaritans from the area rushed to aid the couple, who were then taken by emergency services to a hospital in Salzburg. Tragically, the man passed away before receiving emergency surgery, prompting a police investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death.
Authorities advise caution when in fields with cows, particularly when accompanied by dogs that may incite fear in the cattle, potentially triggering aggressive behavior. In a separate incident earlier this year in China, a farmer met a tragic end after being fatally crushed by one of his cows during feeding time. The elderly man was feeding his animals when one cow charged at him, crushing him against a wall and continuing to attack him as he lay injured.
This alarming event occurred in central China on Friday, April 11, with reports indicating that the victim was performing his daily feeding routine in the cowshed at the time.