The grandpa who was tossed eight feet into the air by a rampaging bison at Yellowstone National Park has spoken out about surviving the wildly viral, bone-breaking attack — saying he was just unlucky the huge animal decided to pick him as its “target.”
Carl Isom-McDaniel, 65, posted an update from his hospital bed as he recalled how he and his 13-year-old grandson stopped to take pictures of the hulking wild animal during a post-dinner walk at the Bridge Bay Campground in Wyoming on July 10.
“We saw the bison and he was down, he wasn’t showing aggression or anything like that,” he said in a video shared by Bozeman Health in Montana, where he underwent surgery for a broken femur.
“Until it picked a target — that target happened to be me.”
Isom-McDaniel, from Kendall, Washington, prioritized getting his grandson safely out of the way, and then tried to avoid being taken down by the animal, which can weigh up to 2,000 pounds, by running through trees.
But “they move faster than you could ever imagine,” he 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,” he said.
“I didn’t get bruises from him launching me in the air — it was the landing that became the problem,” he said of breaking his femur in four places.
He was 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.
Professional snapper Mike MacLeod saw the attack unfold – and said McDaniel was in “good spirits” despite the heavy landing.
“He was in a lot of pain, but was conscious and joking the whole time,” the photographer told Cowboy State Daily.
Park officials previously confirmed that no action would be taken against the now-viral bull bison.
Yellowstone National Park guests are urged to keep a distance of 75 feet from animals such as bison.
Bison can run three times faster than humans, the National Park Service warns.
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