A former army officer has told how she cheated death but was left with life-changing injuries after being trampled – by a herd of cows.

Janicke Tvedt, 55, said she thought she was going to die in the terrifying ordeal when the animals feared her labrador, Goose, 8, was a threat to their calves.

The mum-of-two was left with seven broken ribs, hoof marks on her chest and legs and needed part of her colon removed following the terrifying ordeal last July.

The ex-army officer, who served in Bosnia, stumbled across the seemingly harmless 30-strong herd with her partner, David Hood, 57, and their labrador in rural North Yorkshire.

But within minutes, she had been pulled down and pinned against a fence as the “snorting” animals viciously stamped on her body, leading her belly to swell up like a "watermelon".

She only managed to escape when her army training kicked in and she went into "survival mode".

She climbed a tree, where she slipped in and out of consciousness before finally being airlifted to hospital.

But even after reaching the welcome arms of medical teams, shocked Janicke still believed that she was going to die due to the severity of her excruciating injuries.