Franklin R. Kirby, 15, schoolboy, rescued A. Richard Rector, 30, dairy farmer, from an enraged bull, Hume, Virginia, October 7, 1956. While walking through a pasture on his farm, Rector was attacked from behind by an enraged bull, which tossed him over its back, rolled him 25 feet, and pinned him against a fence 300 feet from a barn in which Franklin, a part-time employee, was working alone. Somewhat dazed and bleeding profusely from head injuries, Rector grasped the bull’s horns and tried to twist its head away as he called to Franklin to bring a pitchfork. Franklin, who was small in stature, ran from the barn and entered the pasture through a gate in the fence, taking a pitchfork with him. Rector, weak from loss of blood, lost his hold on the bull’s horns. Standing within three feet of the bull, Franklin jabbed repeatedly at its head with the pitchfork. The bull turned and stalked 15 feet away, where it stood watching as Rector climbed over the fence and Franklin left through the gate. Rector recovered in two months from his head injuries. Franklin escaped injury. 43989-4095
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43989-4095