Giant rampaging pig smashes through fence and breaks a pensioner’s leg and wrist in Devon woodlands

The angry 600lb boar attacked a 74-year-old woman who was out feeding her friend’s animals

File: A 74-year-old woman has spoken of her 'nightmare' when a giant 600lb boar attacked her in woodlands near her home, crushing her knee and wrist (Wikimedia/Shipmanl29)

A 74-year-old woman in Devon had to be taken to hospital with serious injuries after a rampaging pig “as big as a bear” attacked her in woodlands near her home.

The giant 600lb boar is believed to have been roaming the area for some time, accompanied by a gang of smaller pigs, which spotted Mary Smith while she was out feeding a friend’s animals.

Ms Smith was alone, and got stuck in the mud when she saw the pigs coming. They barged their way through a fence and trampled her, “crushing” her knee and breaking her wrist.

She was able to reach her phone and called her husband and friend, who found her some time later clinging to the fence.

Ms Smith, from Cofton, told the Exeter Express and Echo: “My friend’s pigs are really very friendly, she can even get them to sit for her, and I was feeding them when I saw the others.

“I can’t be totally sure now but I think there were two pigs, a big boar and some young pigs. The adults raised the stock fence with their snouts and charged me. They were after the food.

“I was stuck in the mud and couldn’t move and they trampled over me. My right knee was crushed and my left wrist broken.

“Luckily I had my phone. I called my husband and then Mandy, whose pigs I was feeding. I somehow got out of there and they said they found me hanging on to the fence, although I can’t really remember that.”

Ms Smith had to spent 12 days at hospital, but said “at least I am home for Christmas”. She added that it had been a “nightmare” and she would not be going to feed her friend’s pigs again soon.

In April 2011, a man and a woman were bitten in an attack by a pig roaming free – also in the Cofton area. Then, police were called but said: “While we appreciate concerns, there is nothing that can be done by police to solve what is a civil issue.”