By Chris Story

Last updated at 09:12, Friday, 15 March 2013

A farmer almost killed by a raging bull has undergone pioneering surgery to heal some of his horrific injuries.

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Lawrence Haygarth suffered 17 broken ribs, along with damage to almost all his vital organs, after being gored by a 1.5-tonne beast.

His ribcage has now been rebuilt by a surgeon using plates and screws in a ground-breaking procedure likened to building with a Meccano set.

X-ray pictures released to The Cumberland News show the extent of the injuries he suffered and how the operation has put his ribcage back together.

It is surgery that the 70-year-old, of Kelleth, near Penrith, has described as “grand”.

He said: “It’s done a lot of good and it’s really improved the quality of my life.

“I still get out of breath at times, but I can do so much more than I could. I can saw wood and hammer in nails. I even built a shed recently.

“I have a good quality of life and can take walks again in the fells.”

The injuries suffered by Mr Haygarth, who had a nationally-renowned herd of blonde d’Aquitaine cattle, forced him out of farming. They also included punctured lungs and a ruptured spleen. Both arms were torn from their sockets.

Cardiothoracic surgeon Nidal Bittar carried out the operation to rebuild Mr Haygarth’s ribcage at Blackpool Victoria Hospital.

He said: “You could liken the procedure to a Meccano set. You build something with plates and screws. You have to be creative and shape it. It’s a bit like doing DIY.”

Mr Haygarth underwent the Synthes Rib Matrix surgery – a procedure that stabilises the ribcage, allowing a patient to breathe more easily and reduce pain – four months ago.

Mr Bittar added: “Plates and screws are fixed to the ribs to reconstruct the cage. Mr Haygarth will have these plates in forever.

“Before this operation was possible, breathlessness and pain were part and parcel of life for people who had sustained broken ribs.

“Patients were reminded of their injuries every time they stood up or sat down.”

The Belgian Blue bull’s attack on Mr Haygarth was in November 2011.

The animal spun the farmer 10ft into the air before boring him into the ground.

As revealed exclusively by The Cumberland News last year, Mr Haygarth gouged one of the bull’s eyes as he tried to fight him off after the animal suddenly charged up a line of about 20 cows in a field at Kelleth Rigg Farm.

“I thought he was going to kill me. I resigned myself to die,” he said. “He crushed my chest. I could feel my bones breaking.”

Mr Haygarth was saved by his quick-thinking grandson Alfie, who was in the next field.

Realising something was wrong, the 11-year-old ran to his grandad and then half a mile down a lane to flag down another farmer.

With Mr Haygarth’s wife Phyllis, they stoned the bull who eventually backed away, leaving the farmer prone against a wall.

Minutes later, the pilot of the Great North Air Ambulance used the down draft from its rotors to scare the bull away and enable a paramedic to start treatment.

Mr Haygarth say medics at Blackpool, where he was taken for treatment after Lancaster, to where he was initially flown, at first could not stem the bleeding he was suffering.

He’d had the bull for three years before the attack. Although noisy, it had never been aggressive before. The farmer believes it attacked him because it was protecting the cows. The animal was sold for slaughter days after it nearly killed him.

Mr Haygarth sold his cattle and equipment last year.

He said: “I planned to carry on farming for a little longer, but it wasn’t possible after the attack.

“I feel quite well and could start again, but I don’t think my wife would let me.”

First published at 09:05, Friday, 15 March 2013
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk