Galway woman Áine Lyons raised €2,000 for the AirCorps after her grandfather Johnny was severely injured in a bull attack and was airlifted to hospital.

Johnny was attacked by his own Limousin bull as he crossed the yard in 2019.

“The bull was in an open shed with a cow and attacked,” Áine told the Irish Farmers Journal.

“He passed out during the attack and when he came to, he was on the other side of a swinging gate with the bull looking at him from the other side,” she said. The yard was in an outfarm a mile away from home.

Johnny managed to crawl to his van, drove himself home and collapsed at the back door

“Johnny managed to crawl to his van, drove himself home and collapsed at the back door where my grandmother was. She called the ambulance and they assessed him before calling for the helicopter.”

AirCorps 112 responded and brought Johnny to University Hospital Galway in just 11 minutes. There, he was found to have a gash on his head, fractured ribs and two punctured lungs.

“He made a very good recovery, but it look a long time. He spent 20 weeks sitting inside after the accident,” said Áine. “But he’s back out farming now and both lucky and delighted to be doing it.”

Áine decided to raise money for the AirCorps on her birthday recently and raised €2,000 as a thank you for the “great service” it offered her family in traumatic circumstances.

Donation

Unfortunately, the AirCorps is not allowed to take donations, so they and Áine decided to donate the money to the Patient Comfort Fund of University Hospital Galways’ intensive care unit, where Johnny spent some time after his accident.

The money will be used to provide kitchen facilities and amenities to the families of severely ill patients.

The bull that attacked Johnny was sent to the factory immediately, but the suckler and vegetable farmer from Killimer, Ballinasloe, told the Irish Farmers Journal that his last crop of calves included a remarkable set of triplet bulls calves.