SNOW CAMP, N.C. — A well-known North Carolina dairy farmer is up on his feet after being attacked by a bull a couple of weeks ago in Alamance County.
Randy Lewis said the farm Ran-Lew Dairy Milk Co. has been in his family for generations.
On May 7th, Lewis was attacked by a bull in his dairy pasture in Snow Camp.
"I was up in the air. I couldn’t figure out if I was looking up, and I couldn’t figure out how I got to be looking up until I fell back down, and I was on that bull's head," Lewis said.
Officials said, he suffered broken ribs, punctured both lungs, and had broken bones in his face, back, collarbone, and skull.
"My ribs were popping like popcorn. I knew that I broke all the pieces inside," he explained.
Even after the attack, Lewis managed to call 911 himself and walked over 100 feet to his barn so EMTs could find him.
He was flown to UNC Hospitals and underwent immediate surgery.
He's alive and officials said as of last check walking around at the hospital.
Lewis is doing physical therapy and working hard to get back to the farm.
Taylor Hayes is the Milk Plant Operator at the Dairy Farm. She explains that what happened on the farm is, while serious, completely normal.
"It’s like when you get in your car and you go driving. You’re driving this huge vehicle and it’s scary and somebody could hit you or you could hit somebody, and somebody could get really hurt but you don’t think about that when you get in the car," Hayes shared.
She told WFMY News 2 that the farm is working hard to keep operations going while Lewis recovers.
"I would love to have him back and be able to ask him so many questions. I do think more than anything I want him to recover and recover well so that when he returns, we can have breakfast again and dance again,” Hayes said.
Since the attack, the Lewis family has raised over $177,000 to help with hospital care and recovery.
Lewis said this money will also go towards maintaining the farm and giving him extra time to heal before heading back to work.
"I don’t quite know what to make of all of that. It’s hard to believe people are that kind,” Lewis said.
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