MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. -- He was trampled by a relentless, 2,000 pound bull. Less than two days after being hospitalized with serious injuries, Justin White, 24, is back home recovering.
White says he has four broken ribs and multiple fractures in his back. He’s grateful to be alive.
“I honestly thought it was my last day,” White said.
White says he was at the Martin County Ranches in western Martin County Monday morning.
In a wooded area on the property, he says a bull appeared to be agitated.
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“He kept blowing and slinging snot and pawing,” White described. “He had this just… his eyes. There was something in him.”
He tried to shoo the bull away. Instead, he was on the ground in seconds.
White described being flipped in the air, kicked and pushed toward a pond for at least 15 minutes. He tried to grab his phone out of his pocket to call for help while trying to protect himself from the bull.
“The whole time I’m thinking if I drop this phone, I have no help.” The area was too remote for anyone to hear him yell for help.
He got his phone and called managed to call 911. He says for nearly another 30 minutes, the bull would not leave him.
“He wanted to hurt me,” White said.
A Martin County Sergeant ultimately shot and killed the bull to save White.
White’s family has been ranchers for generations. “It’s what I do. It’s all I know.” He knew bulls can be unpredictable.
“You know to never trust them. I mean, the nicest bull will turn his back on you in a heart beat.”
He’s been injured before working with livestock, but never experienced anything like this, he said.
It could take him a couple months to recover, but he won’t hesitate to get back to work.
“It’s not going to change what I do.”