CAVE-IN-ROCK—One of those freak incidents that’s only rare these days because so few people are into animal husbandry anymore occurred yesterday at a location in Cave-in-Rock, according to what our sources are telling us.
It wasn't THIS specific bull....but...you get the picture. YIKES.
We’re still waiting on a call back from Sheriff Smokey Cullison to get us the specifics (which will probably be in the print version, so be sure to pick one up next week!), but here’s what we know so far:
Farmer Tom Goolsby was in a field at about 4:30 yesterday (12.13.11) evening at a location on Illinois 1 near the work camp (Shewmaker) when he was attacked and injured by a 5-year-old bull. Apparently this bull trampled Goolsby pretty badly, and he was unable to get up from the ground. He was lying there yelling for help (reports don’t indicate how long), and fortunately, someone in the vicinity heard his cries and called for emergency assistance.
That arrived in the form of Hardin County Ambulance and the sheriff’s department. Ambulance crews attempted to assist Goolsby, but the bull kept charging them, reports indicate. According to multiple sources, the bull had to be put down by the deputies on the scene. One report indicated that it took 15 or 16 shots to kill the bull. This is but one of the aspects of the incident we’re working to get Smokey to confirm, however.
Goolsby, a mechanic by trade who worked for RIDES Mass Transit, was (CORRECTED INFO) unable to be taken by helicopter to Deaconess in Evansville because of the weather, so he was transported by ambulance to that location. As of this morning, it’s been reported that he’s sore and stiff and has a cracked corner of a vertebrae in his lower back, but he’s going to recover, which is pretty remarkable for being trampled for 20 minutes by an ornery bull.
Our thoughts go out to the family and to Goolsby, as this kind of thing, as stated before, doesn’t happen very often, and it had to have been traumatic. Hope he makes a full recovery.