Two angry, fighting bulls land on top of a Missouri man. His wife breaks up the fight
Bob Newcomb turned 75 years old on Wednesday and his family already knows how hard the next year will be for him.
Newcomb, who lives in Harviell in Butler County, Missouri, is recovering in a St. Louis hospital after he got caught in the fury between two bulls fighting nearly two weeks ago.
His wife of 53 years, Rose Ann, stepped in to break up the fight and save her husband.
“Mom was there and got the bulls off of him by yelling at them,” Newcomb’s daughter, Laura Hagood, says on a GoFundMe page set up to defray her father’s rising medical expenses and the cost of keeping his family close at hand.
Butler County Sheriff Mark Dobbs told KMOV in St. Louis that Newcomb was getting ready to take the bulls to an Arkansas livestock sale on August 10.
Newcomb and his wife run Newcomb Bucking Bulls, according to the Southeast Missourian.
The Newcombs’ son and daughter-in-law, Jason and Jessica Newcomb, are also owners, according to the company’s website which says the family’s been in the cattle business for more than 30 years.
“The love & excitement of bucking bulls sparked our interest to start our own herd of bucking stock,” the website says.
“Our herd consists of direct descendants of some of the hottest stock in the business. Such as: Houdini, Rooster, Mossy Oak Mudslinger, Holy Moly, Hammerhead, Smokin’ Joe, Boxcar, Pushmataha Wildcat, Here’s Your Sign, Nightlife and Little Yellow Jacket.”
Deputies responded around 9:30 a.m. when they got a call that morning about someone being attacked by two bulls, Dobbs told KMOV.
Family members told deputies that Newcomb had loaded the bulls onto a trailer and was trying to close a panel to lock them in when one of the animals kicked the panel open, knocking him onto the ground, according to KMOV.
In a flash, both bulls were off the trailer and on top of Newcomb.
“That gate came open and the bulls came out on top of him in a very confined area,” Newcomb’s daughter, Laura Hagood, told the Missourian newspaper. “They just continued their fight on top of him. One of them weighed about 2,200 pounds.”
Newcomb bore the brunt of the fight. Family listed his injuries on the GoFundMe page.
Sixteen busted ribs - ribs 2-9 on both sides. His right lung collapsed and the left filled with blood, compromising his breathing.
One of the massive animals stepped on his back and broke two vertebrae, say family members, who have been told it could take Newcomb a year to recover. The day after the accident surgeons installed steel rods on both sides of his spine.
“Dad was covering his head and face with his arms and his arms are pretty banged up,” Hagood reported on the fundraising page.
Family members are chronicling Newcomb’s recovery on the GoFundMe page and on Hagood’s Facebook page. “Happy Birthday Dad!” she wrote on Facebook Wednesday. “Praying you knock this breathing test out of the park today.”
Newcomb is at Barnes-Jewish Hospital, more than 150 miles from home where, Hagood told the Missourian, friends and neighbors are taking care of houses, lawns and animals for family members staying with him at the hospital.
His family is with him 24/7.
“We’ve kind of been at a standstill, but we have made some gradual positive outcomes over the last few days. It’s been kind of like inchworms, not baby steps,” Hagood told the newspaper. “We’ve got to have a lot of patience right now.”
On Tuesday - Day 12 of her father’s recovery - she wrote on Facebook that her dad was “improving.”
“Pneumonia is better. Breathing needs to improve - we still don’t know if or when the tracheotomy will be done....14 days is the magic number and we are at Day 12. Continue to pray for his ribs and lungs to heal,” she wrote.
“I have said this to several people - it has been incredible to witness how God has given my mother strength, comfort, and peace. Dad has strength like no other but he married a superwoman!”
This story was originally published August 23, 2018 at 1:36 PM.