Yellowstone Tourist Suffers Fractured Spine, Collapsed Lungs After Being Gored By A Bison

A Yellowstone tourist suffered serious injuries after a bison attacked her.

Amber Harris was at Yellowstone soaking up a little nature on July 17 north of Yellowstone Lake when a bison gave her what might have been the worst experience of her life.

The massive animal gored her, and Harris fractured her spine in seven places and suffered bilateral lung collapse, according to Yahoo.

Harris revealed in a Facebook post she was airlifted on a life flight to a hospital in Idaho, according to the same Yahoo report.

It wasn't all bad news for Amber Harris.

In an all-time surprise turn of events, her boyfriend Chris Whitehill had been planning to propose to her while at Yellowstone. Turns out having your girlfriend's spine fractured by a bison requires a change of plans. He proposed to Amber at the hospital.

A love story for the ages.

"My love got down on one knee beside my hospital bed last night and formally asked me to be his wife. Without any hesitation I said yes," Harris wrote on FB.

Getting gored by a bison and proposed to at the hospital is truly a wild situation to live through. Life can throw some wild curveballs.

Don't mess with bison and the animal thunderdome.

If we've said it once, then we've said it a million times. Don't mess with nature. Whether it's bison, sharks or something else, nature isn't your friend.

You're a snack to wild animals. Not their friend.

To Amber's credit, it doesn't seem like she was one of the morons who walks right up to bison trying to photos. She wrote on Facebook the animal was about 50 yards away when they noticed it.

The National Park Service recommends staying at least 25 yards away from bison. She was more than double that, and it still didn't matter.

The animal decided it was time to mess up someone's day, and it gave her serious injuries. It's shocking none of her major organs were hit.

Stay away from the animal thunderdome, folks. Your health and safety depends on it.

Written by
David Hookstead is a reporter for OutKick covering a variety of topics with a focus on football and culture. He also hosts of the podcast American Joyride that is accessible on Outkick where he interviews American heroes and outlines their unique stories. Before joining OutKick, Hookstead worked for the Daily Caller for seven years covering similar topics. Hookstead is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin.