Man Gored by Bison 3 Months Ago Takes Date to the Same Park, Only for Her To Get Attacked Too
Thirty-year-old Kyler Bourgeous encountered a spell of bad luck back in June.
While running on a trail in Antelope Island State Park near Salt Lake City, he was charged by a bison. After being gored and trampled, he survived with only broken ribs, a collapsed lung and minor head injuries.
It was the only reported bison attack in the park this year until another one occurred on Friday, Sept. 27.
The victim this time was none other than Kayleigh Davis, 22, who happened to be on a date with Bourgeous at the time.
“I had called her to see if she wanted to watch the sunset out on Antelope Island,” he told KSL-TV.
“I thought my incident was a freak accident with really bad luck with the positioning, and that we’d be fine going back out there.”
Unfortunately, they were not.
During their evening run, Davis had stretched a quarter mile ahead when she saw a bison alone off the trail. Aware of what happened to Bourgeous earlier in the year, she became nervous and started to make her way back to him.
“There’s a bison, and I was uncomfortable standing there by myself, especially after hearing his story,” she said.
However, she wasn’t alone on the trail, and that’s probably what prompted the animal to charge.
“I saw four bikers approaching me on the trail, so I waved them down to try to get their attention,” she told the Standard-Examiner. “But then I look back over my shoulder and see the bison charging toward me … I think [the bikers] spooked them.”
The bison inevitably caught up to her, flipping her into the air and sending her into a panic.
“I’m up in the air thinking, ‘What’s going to happen to me after this?’”
She was able to escape with only a broken ankle and a cut on her calf, despite her fear that the bison might attack her for a second time.
“He was hanging over me, sniffing me for a minute, and he was digging like he was about to charge again,” she said.
The couple has no future dates planned in the park, although they do intend to volunteer at the visitor center, far away from any raging animals.
“I generally am not superstitious, but I have this weird feeling that the bison there really don’t like me,” Bourgeous said.
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