Alabama deputy needs transplant after being gored by bull

MORGAN COUNTY, Ala. — An Alabama deputy needs a transplant after he was gored by his family’s 2-year-old bull Sunday.

Caleb Brooks, an investigator with the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office special victims unit, lost his small intestine and large portions of his large intestine after the animal charged him at his home and pinned him against a tree, AL.com reported.

Brooks will be traveling to Ohio for surgery and will have a small bowel transplant at a Cleveland medical facility, the website reported.

Brooks’ wife, Madeline, started a Facebook page to keep community members up to date on the officer’s condition, WHNT reported.

In a post Tuesday, Madeline Brooks said the bull had never been aggressive, but Sunday the animal attacked “out of nowhere” while the couple was putting out a new roll of hay.

“Out of nowhere, the bull picked Caleb up with his head and took off (at) full speed,” Madeline Brooks wrote. “Caleb was unable to get his footing and the bull smacked him into a tree in the pasture.”

Caleb Brooks was able to climb over a gate while his wife called 911.

Madeline Brooks said doctors at the emergency room discovered that her husband had internal bleeding in his abdomen. After undergoing two surgeries, Caleb Brooks had very little of his large intestine left and had lost his small intestine.

“All today (Tuesday) the surgeon and all of the nurses in ICU worked very hard to find somewhere to transport Caleb,” Madeline Brooks wrote on Facebook. “By the grace of God, Caleb was accepted by Cleveland, Ohio’s, transplant center.”

The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office created a GoFundMe page to help Brooks’ family cover costs for the trip and living expenses in Ohio, WHNT reported. As of Wednesday afternoon, more than $22,000 had been donated.

“He is a vital part of our team,” Mike Swafford, the public information officer for the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, told the television station. “He is an encourager. He is always laughing, always joking. … Doing voices, because they deal with a lot of crazy stuff so to have that humor, it’s a necessity and he brings it every day.”

“We ask for any and all prayers for Caleb, his wife and sons and the medical team attending to him!” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.

Cox Media Group