Saturday, May 31, 1997
Fort Griffin man mauled by bull
By ROY A. JONES II / Abilene Reporter-News
ALBANY - Unable to move after twice being mauled by a bull,
a Shackelford County man survived three hours of stark terror,
afraid the animal would attack again before rescuers discovered
his plight.
Dick Shelton, 76, of Fort Griffin was listed in serious condition
Friday at Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene.
He suffered several fractures and lacerations, internal injuries
and apparent spinal injuries that left him paralyzed and unable
to defend himself after the first attack, a relative said.
"A bull really messed him up while he was checking an
oil lease," said Shelton's son-in-law, Will Carroll.
Carroll, the assistant manager of Fort Griffin State Park,
said Shelton could have died had not his wife, Mary Ann, become
concerned that she hadn't heard from him all morning and gone
looking for him.
Carroll said Shelton, an oil field pumper and rancher, had
gone to check an oil tank battery a short distance from his home
about 8 a.m. Friday. He said Shelton later told his wife that
when he got out of his pickup truck, he saw a bull pawing the
ground but wasn't concerned about being attacked.
"He's ranched and worked around cattle all his life. He's
probably shooed them away hundreds of times to check leases,"
Carroll said. "But he said this one came at him all of a
sudden and knocked him against a (water, gas and oil) separator
and knocked him out."
"He doesn't know how long he was out but when he came
to he couldn't move," Carroll continued. "Then at some
point the bull came back and trampled on him and butted him with
his head. He thought the bull was going to kill him and he couldn't
do anything but lay there."
Carroll thinks the second mauling probably happened within
a few minutes of the time Shelton was knocked unconscious. Shelton
was not found until 11:30 a.m. when his wife went looking for
him.
"She didn't see the bull then, so I guess it had wandered
off," Carroll said.
"He said it was really scary," Carroll said. "He
said he never lost consciousness after he came to the first time."
Carroll estimated the bull weighed "at least 1,500 pounds."
Mrs. Shelton called 911. Emergency medical technicians from
Stephens Memorial Hospital in Breckenridge treated Shelton at
the scene and immobilized him to guard against further spinal
injuries. A FirstFlight helicopter from Hendrick landed on U.S.
Highway 283 to pick up Shelton a short distance from where he
was injured, Carroll said.
Carroll said the treatment was including a CAT scan to determine
if Shelton had spinal cord injuries or if the paralysis might
be caused by swelling due to a neck injury.
"He said all he could feel was some tingling in his extremities.
We feel like that's a good sign the paralysis won't be permanent,"
Carroll said.
Shelton is the second area oil field pumper to be seriously
injured by an animal in five months. In January, 82-year-old Edwin
H. Mueller of Haskell County was viciously attacked by two Rottweiler
dogs while checking a lease near his home.
Mueller survived although he lost his right arm below the elbow
and had to have surgery on his mangled left hand. He was hospitalized
for more than a month but has recovered well, his wife said Friday.
The dogs tested negative for rabies but were destroyed as vicious
animals.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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