Man’s best friend saves life

WAUKON, Iowa — July 27, 2024, started like every other morning at Ronan Family Dairy Farm near Waukon. Jim Ronan went to the barn to move cows around and get prepared for milking and the hoof trimmer, who was coming that day. While moving a cow to the barn, he was hit by the farm’s 3,000-pound bull.

Before he knew what happened, Jim was on the ground being pushed around by the bull, who had been on the farm for over 18 months without any signs of aggression.

“He hit me right in the back and I didn’t realize what was happening until he rolled me and I was looking right at him,” Jim said.

The bull continued to roll Jim across the barnyard, rolling him directly into the side of a steel feed bunk. That is when Jim heard the crack of his ribs breaking. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his dog, Miley.

“I yelled to Miley, ‘Get him,’ and she took off after him,” Jim said.

The Australian Shepherd pushed the bull back 20 feet, to the entrance of the barn. This gave Jim the time he needed to try to stand up. On a knee, with his hands ready to push himself back up, he saw the bull again.

“Miley had come over by me, but when I saw the bull again, he was on a full sprint,” Jim said. “I yelled to Miley to get him again, and she went right back after him. If it wasn’t for her, there’s no way I could have gotten out of there.”

Jim rolled into the steel bunk and out of the pen to safety. He pushed open the gate and made his way up to the house where he found his wife, Sara.

Sara called emergency services and their son, Tyler Ronan, who works side-by-side with his dad on the farm and lives a few miles down the road.

“I could barely hear what she was saying,” Tyler said. “The one thing I did understand was ‘The bull got Dad’.”

Tyler found his dad sitting at the kitchen table, with an ambulance on the way. His older brother, Brandon, a strength and conditioning coach at the University of Northern Iowa, happened to be visiting and helped Jim prepare for the arrival of the paramedics.

“The ambulance came, and the medics took one look at me and immediately called for the helicopter,” Jim said.

While Jim was in the ambulance, Miley stayed nearby. The dog sat next to the ambulance for as long as she could until Tyler needed to pull her away.

Jim was flown to La Crosse, Wisconsin, where he underwent a CT scan and x-rays. It was discovered that he had eight broken ribs, six on his right side with multiple fractures in each rib, and two on his left. The muscles on his spine were pulled away from the bone, leaving a basketball-sized indent.

Back at the farm, Tyler was left to milk their 80 cows in the tiestall barn and get ready for the hoof trimmer.

“Once word got out, I couldn’t keep up with my phone with people who were reaching out,” Tyler said. “I had to put it away so I could get something done, and I didn’t have an update for them anyway.”

When Tyler finally did answer the phone, it was his mother calling from the hospital.

“She immediately started telling me that Dad was trying to make sure I was going to mix feed right and which cows I needed to have sorted for the trimmer,” Tyler said. “He was still giving me orders from the hospital, and it was then that I knew he was going to be alright.”

Tyler is the sixth generation at Ronan Family Dairy Farm. The family has been milking on the same farm since 1855 and earned a Heritage Farm Certificate from the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship.

Following the incident, the bull was shipped two days later. Using a skid loader, Tyler moved the bull into the milking barn and set the gates to load him onto the trailer. Once the gate opened, the bull was not ready to depart.

“When I couldn’t get him out of the barn, I knew exactly who to call,” Tyler said.

Miley was called back into action and loaded the bull onto the trailer and off the farm.

Two years prior, Miley had her own health scare. A working dog, Miley had injured her hip working cattle. Initially, the dog worked through her injury and was back to working cattle how she was accustomed to, until one day she could not move her back legs. The Ronans took her to the vet and were informed Miley needed hip surgery. Now the Ronans realize that what started as a surgery to keep one of their top cattle dogs around, turned into a life-changing decision.

At the hospital in La Crosse, Jim was already trying to get back home.

He was told it would be at least a week before he would be released, and he had an array of physical tests he needed to pass. It started with a breathing capacity test, three unassisted walks around the hospital, and a test with the physical therapist requiring him to get in and out of a car without assistance.

Jim passed all the tests, and three days after being flown in, he was on his way back home.

“The people at the hospital were tremendous, but I just knew I couldn’t stay in there any longer than I had to,” Jim said.

Upon his return, Jim needed to use a walker to get around and had a hospital bed brought into the lower level of his home.

Tyler kept the farm going while Jim recovered, with help from his girlfriend, Karly Hemmersbach, and several nephews who helped on the weekend.

“That stretch was tough during the week because the work for two of us fell completely on me,” Tyler said. “It made for some long days, but we had a lot of family and neighbors asking how they could help. We had great support. That’s just what we do around here. When someone needs help, we’re all willing to lend a hand.”

Two and a half months after the attack, Jim was back in the tractor chopping corn.

“I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Miley,” Jim said. “I wouldn’t have time with my grandkids. It really makes you think about the little things. Maybe slow down, spend more time with family. It definitely makes me appreciate my dog a lot more.”