A grandfather who was violently launched into the air by a charging bison at Yellowstone National Park has spoken out about the horrifying ordeal.
Carl Isom-McDaniel, 65, was visiting the park on July 10 with his 13-year-old grandson when he was flipped eight feet into the air by a bison.
Isom-McDaniel was seriously injured in the attack, breaking his femur in four places.
He has now revealed how he scrambled to protect his young grandson before the massive animal knocked him off his feet.
Isom-McDaniel said the attack happened when his grandson stopped to take a picture of the bison. At the time, they were standing a safe distance away from the bison.
“We saw the bison and he was down, he wasn’t showing aggression or anything like that,” the grandfather said in a video filmed from his hospital bed at Bozeman Health in Montana.
“Until it picked a target—that target happened to be me.”
He added that his first instinct was to get his grandson out of harm’s way before turning his attention to protecting himself and avoiding the charging animal.
But that proved impossible. “They move faster than you could ever imagine,” Isom-McDaniel said.
“He just kept coming and he was more aggressive and as soon as he got off that tree he launched me in the air.”
The moment was captured in a viral video by a Montana-based photographer who was trying to get some footage of the bison after it stormed into the campground where he was staying.
The video showed the animal taking a dust bath before it charged at the grandfather, hooked him with its horn and tossed him into the air, leaving him with a broken femur.
“I didn’t get bruises from him launching me in the air—it was the landing that became the problem,” he said.
Isom-McDaniel was rushed to the hospital after the attack.
He told CNN the journey took two hours, during which he was in intense pain.
He received surgery for his broken bone and was able to walk a day later.
The ordeal left Isom-McDaniel relieved he wasn’t more seriously injured.
“Even though I was on the ground, he could’ve stomped me, he could’ve gored me, he could’ve done anything,” he said.
Park officials said the bison will not face any intervention following the incident, confirming the animal will be left alone despite the attack.
This is the second bison attack in Yellowstone this year, after a 12-year-old boy was attacked in late June.
