A grandfather out for a walk with his grandson at Yellowstone National Park found himself eight feet in the air on July 10 when a bull bison charged at him.
The attack took place at a campground south of Fishing Bridge in Wyoming, where a bison reportedly caught the man with its horn and sent him spinning before he landed on his side.
The chaotic moment was captured on camera by a witness named Mike MacLeod.
"The bison hooked him with his left horn on his hip and tossed him in the air. He made a perfect flip and landed on his side. The bison was at least 6 feet tall, and [the victim] was several feet above him," MacLeod told Cowboy State Daily.
After the man hit the ground, the bison stood over him and shook its head before MacLeod dropped his camera, ran toward the animal while yelling, and made himself as large as possible. Bystanders followed and drove the bison back.
The coordinated response from the crowd was immediate.
"One guy held his hand. Another guy pulled security on the outside to make sure that bison didn't come back,” MacLeod recounted. “A gal in a car was on the phone with 911, and another gal did a blood sweep, but we couldn't find any blood. Yellowstone EMS arrived quickly and took over care of the victim.”
The man sustained a broken hip in the attack. His grandson escaped unharmed and later told MacLeod his grandfather "has some pretty significant injuries and is not out of the woods yet," remaining in critical condition.
What made the incident particularly jarring was that the pair had been keeping what the National Park Service considers a safe distance. The grandfather and grandson were walking along the road outside the camping loop when the bison turned its attention on them.
"They weren't even in that camping loop. They were walking along the road, quite a ways away from the bison, and it started running at them," MacLeod explained.
The animal had already been behaving erratically. The bison first charged a group of children taking photos on their phones, who scattered safely. It then appeared to settle into a swamp, prompting the grandfather to attempt to leave with his grandson.
A passing white pickup truck reagitated the animal, and after charging the truck, the bison pivoted toward the trees where the two had taken cover.
