‘He would have killed me’: Utah man stopped to help stranger attacked by aggressive bull

NEWCASTLE, Iron County – A Newcastle man was seriously injured this week when he was attacked by a bull he was trying to free from a stranger’s property.

Mark Sargent, 44, was taking a normal drive with his wife on Monday when they decided to stop in Old Irontown. There, Sargent saw a man trying to move cattle off his property and since he has experience with cattle ranching, Sargent decided to help him.

“I’ve been dealing with livestock most of my life, so I stopped here and helped out. Dealing with farm animals is no stranger to me,” he said.

The two herded a few cows off the property, then Sargent used his truck to drive a 2,000-kilogram bull to the gate at the end of the property.

When the bull was at the gate, Sargent got out of the truck. But the aggressive bull turned and ran back toward him instead of continuing through the gate.

The bull hurled Sargent over five metres into the air and seven metres down the slope, breaking his hip and pelvic bones and bruising several of his ribs.

“It just happened so fast that there was nothing I could do except protect my head. I was basically just trying to protect my head because if he had hit me directly in the head, it would have killed me. So most of the blow was inflicted on my hip and side,” he said.

While waiting for the ambulance, Sargent saw the property owner and the livestock owner get into a physical altercation. He wasn’t sure what it was about or how it ended, as he was preoccupied with his “very painful” injuries.

“I tried to get up, walk to the truck and make myself as comfortable as possible, but it didn’t work,” he said.

Sargent underwent hip surgery and now faces a long recovery. He expects to remain in the hospital until Saturday.

Sargent isn’t sure why the cattle were on the property to begin with or why the cattle owner didn’t help them move the cattle off the property. But since he happened to be there, Sargent said he just wanted to help.

“I’m just upset because it’s obviously not a very nice animal and there are little kids running around. If that had happened to one of those kids, it would have killed them.”

The bull tried to ram two other men who were with Sargent and the property owner, but only hit him, he said.

The Iron County Sheriff’s Office issued a news release Tuesday saying a man was gored by a bull and two other men were involved in a physical altercation, but details were scant. Sargent stressed he was not gored by the bull — since it did not have horns — but was merely thrown by the animal.

The sheriff’s office statement said the men involved in the altercation did not file charges against each other, the bull’s owner was located and the bull was removed from the area.

Sargent used to be a bull rider, but said he will stay away from cattle for a while after this experience. Sargent’s sister has started a GoFundMe* to help pay for his medical expenses.

*KSL.com does not guarantee that funds deposited into the account will be used for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering depositing funds into the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.