Highland cow horror as woman heard ribs 'cracking' after being crushed by beast

A woman who was crushed by an angered Highland Cow near a popular scenic spot in Paisley said she thought she was going to die during the horrific attack.

Monika Bresler was walking dog Roxy near Gleniffer Braes Country Park on Tuesday afternoon (April 16) when she spotted a large cow charging towards them, reports Glasgow Live.

While her pooch escaped the ordeal, the 45-year-old tried to hide from the crazed animal in some nearby bushes. However, the Highland Cow spotted her and knocked her off the ground.

The animal then attempted to crush the Barrhead woman into the ground using its hoof - which struck her in the chest.

Monika said that she heard her ribs "cracking" during the ordeal that happened on a public path near Brownside Farm car park. The attack left her with a collapsed lung and multiple fractures.

The 45-year-old told Glasgow Live: "I took the public path up the hill. When I reached the top of the hill, just beyond where the path sharply curves, a number of Highland cows appeared. One of the cows had a small calf and immediately after spotting my dog, started charging at us with anger in its eyes.

"While my dog, luckily off the lead at that point, managed to run away quickly, I thought I’d be okay moving away from it too - I went off the path into the neighbouring gorge bushes, running very fast. The cow didn’t stop charging, followed me and knocked me off my feet.

"It then attempted to lay on me, repeatedly, trying to crush me into the ground. The cow then managed to stamp on my chest with one of its hoofs and I could hear my ribs cracking. It was absolutely awful.

"I was very scared and thought it would kill me."

Crippled with pain, the terrified victim managed to move herself to a different location where dog walkers came to her assistance. Emergency services were contacted and Monika was rushed to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital where she stayed for four days before being discharged on Saturday, April 20.

Now, the IT manager has been forced to take a leave of absence from work to focus on recovering from her attack, which is said to take six weeks. Monika has shared the details of her frightening ordeal in the hope that she will warn others to remain vigilant when visiting the popular beauty spot.

She added: "I thought I needed to crawl out before anything happened. I managed to get up and go to these bushes where I saw more dog walkers. I knew I couldn’t breathe and something was really wrong, I was in a lot of pain. I was still very much under shock.

"This is a very popular spot for walking dogs, I was on a public path where it happened. There’s families walking the same path every day and these cows are left to roam free, they need to be put behind a fence.

"Wild animals that are dangerous shouldn’t be allowed out in country parks. It wasn’t anything I did, they just spotted my dog and came towards us. You need to be really careful and there needs to be some action."

Police, fire and ambulance services have been approached for comment.

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