The Great North Air Ambulance at the site of the incident at Redmire in Wensleydale. Photo: GNAAS

A walker was airlifted to hospital after suffering serious injuries when he was trampled by cows and another was also hospitalised after a separate incident involving cattle.

A 55-year-old man was with his dog at Redmire, in Wensleydale, yesterday when he was attacked by the animals.

He suffered serious spinal and chest injuries in the incident.

The Great North Air Ambulance took to the air at 5.20pm following a request from Yorkshire Air Ambulance. An air ambulance spokesperson said: “He was treated on scene by our doctor-led trauma team.

“One of our new portable ultrasound scanners was utilised, allowing medics to check for internal injuries in a procedure normally available only in the hospital. The patient was then flown to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, where he was in a serious but stable condition on arrival.

“The flight took 12 minutes. By road, the journey would normally take longer than an hour.”

The Great North Air Ambulance Service’s other helicopter, based in Cumbria, was scrambled 10 minutes after the first callout to deal with an injured woman on Hadrian’s Wall, north of Hexham in Northumberland.

The woman, from France, had also been injured by cattle.

The GNAAS spokesperson said: “She was in some discomfort having sustained a blow to the chest, but thankfully her injuries were found not to be serious and she was able to be transferred to hospital by the North East Ambulance Service”