A businessman suffered life-threatening injuries after being trampled by a cow while cycling with his children along a towpath in Oxford.

Paul Harris displays his injuries shortly after the incidentPaul Harris was airlifted to Oxford's John Radcliffe Hospital and spent three days in intensive care with a punctured lung and broken ribs.

He was cycling by the Thames with children Samuel, 14, and Melissa, 13, from their home in Eynsham when they came across about 10 cows, including two calves, on the towpath near Port Meadow, a short distance from Godstow Lock.

The account executive told his children to pass slowly, but as he got close to one of the calves, it moved towards its mother, which then knocked Mr Harris to the ground from behind.

He said: "I remember the cow trying to gore me, but luckily she had no horns. I shouted for help and shouted at the cow, but it was unrelenting."

Mr Harris, 41, tried to push the cow's head away, but it then stood on his chest, breaking his ribs and puncturing his right lung.

He said: "There was a point when I was lying flat like a piece of meat unable to move and I thought 'this is it -- I'm going to die'. I couldn't do anything but scream."

Mr Harris believes he owes his life to passing walker Leslie Spiro, 42, who scared off the cow by running towards it waving a branch.

Mr Spiro's wife Roz raised the alarm and stopped a passing boat to take Mr Harris's children and their own daughters, aged nine and 12, to Godstow Lock.

Thames Valley air ambulance arrived and a paramedic inserted a needle into Mr Harris's chest to help with his breathing.

Today, more than a month after the attack, he is still suffering dizziness and has been unable to return to work.

He said: "I know I 'm getting better with each week, but I have bad days.

"My body is 75 per cent fit now, but I'm still suffering dizzy spells.

"I've had tests on my head and I'm waiting for the results, then I hope to get back to work."

In October 2003, six-year-old Rosie May Covendale was left with two black eyes and bruising after being charged at by a cow while she was with her mother Samantha at the former Wolvercote bathing place at Port Meadow.

Rosie May's grandfather George McDermott, of Oxford, said he did not think enough was being done to stop attacks, but a spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said it was everyone's responsibility to take care while in the countryside.

Nearly 1,000 people are hurt in accidents involving cattle annually.