An inquest into the death of a West Clare farmer has heard how an out of control cow trampled the 74 year old as he came to the rescue of his son.
At the coroner’s court in Ennis- Edmund O’Dea said there was no warning on the day the farm raised animal attacked both himself and his late father Micheal O’Dea at Clonina in Cree last May.
A verdict of accidental death was recorded
In his deposition at the inquest of his father’s death Edmund O’Dea said that he was in the process of dosing the cow’s calf when she attacked and injured him.
The Coroners Court heard that his father Michael O’Dea ran to his son’s aid but the calf’s mother then attacked the 74 year old, knocked him down and trampled on him.
Emergency services were unable to revive the married father of six and a post-mortem found he died from acute cardio-respiratory failure secondary to multiple-injuries.
The inquest was told that the cow was born and raised on the farm, and in their investigation gardaí found nothing untoward that could have set it off that day.
In summing up County Coroner Isobel O’Dea said the only appropriate verdict was accidental death and added that it was a terribly tragic accident for someone who had worked with livestock all his life.
