A part-time cage fighter has been praised for saving the life of a man attacked by a stag he was photographing in County Armagh.
The apparently docile animal turned on Tom Morgan on Camlough mountain, turning a family stroll into a nightmare.
It pinned Mr Morgan to the ground, but luckily local man Rory Coffey saw what was happening from his home.
He raced to the scene before his cage fighter training kicked in.
"I saw the guy was struggling, the stag's antlers were stuck in his leg," Mr Coffey said.
"I kicked the man to one side and told him to go away. I raised my knee into the stag's head and pinned it to the ground.
"So for a couple of seconds it was pinned to the ground - it wasn't moving and the man managed to get down the side of the hill."
Mr Coffey suffered several injuries in the rescue and said only his cage fighter training gave him any chance.
"I've trained and fought with some very strong people but this opponent was extremely, extremely strong and the only vision I had of its head was the sinews and muscles," he said.
"I don't know how young or old the stag was, but it was a pretty big beast. If it had been any bigger I don't think I'd be having this interview."
Mr Morgan suffered more than 20 puncture wounds and is recovering in Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry.
His daughter is in no doubt he owes his life to Mr Coffey.
"If it wasn't for him my dad would be dead and maybe my mum," she said.
"It just shows you how brave a person is when you're forced into a life or death situation."
The stag was later shot by a trained marksman.
See video at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/8304215.stm
(Submitted by Joe McNally)
Tuesday 13 October 2009
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"The stag was later shot by a trained marksman."
ReplyDeleteHow thoroughly disgusting.
Mr. Morgan should not have been anywhere near the stag, he got what he deserved. It is such a pity that a beautiful, proud animal had to die because of the actions of a damn fool.
It is about time for the rut and the creature would have been sorting out its territory and protecting its females. Anyone with the slightest common sense and / or knowledge of deer, should know that during the period around the rut you keep a serious distance from them.
I feel the same way, Syd. It is a travesty.
ReplyDeletewat sort of jackass goes near a stag during the rut
ReplyDeletethat man is clearly an idiot,who goes near a stag during the rutting season
ReplyDeleteWell said Syd. Mr Coffey was brave to take the Stag on though, and things should have been left at that. Trust the authorities to over-react. No wonder the natural world is sliding into oblivion.
ReplyDeleteThat's very foreign to me.
ReplyDeleteMost wild deer in North America, even in rut, won't approach people. Moose/elk (Alces alces) are the exception, and our relative of the red deer (which is also known as elk-- it is either Cervus elaphus or Cervus canadensis, depending upon which study you use) only becomes dangerous when it loses its fear of people. In parks and non-hunting areas, they can become hazardous, but where they have adequate reason to fear people, they generally are safe.
I know this may be heresy to some anti-rights people, but we live a lot better with wildlife when it fears us. And sometimes, the only way to make them fear us is to hunt them.
"only becomes dangerous when it loses its fear of people".
ReplyDeleteThat is the problem here, Retrieverman. Even in our more remote areas these creatures are not left alone by the tourists. They are continually seeing humans and have to a great extent lost their natural fear.
In parts of Scotland I have seen people standing quite close to the wild deer and attempting to feed and pet them, as they may have done in a children's farm park. Idiots do not appreciate the damage that they are doing to the deer, or think about the damage that the deer could do to them.