'I am very fortunate.' US Rep. Frank Lucas gets all clear six months after bull attack

Nearly six months after being run over by a bull on his western Oklahoma ranch, U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas was released Wednesday from a doctor's care for the injuries he suffered in the incident.

During a mid-morning interview with The Oklahoman in his southwest Oklahoma City office, Lucas said he was headed to see his surgeon and that during the appointment, he hoped to receive the all-clear. That's exactly what happened, one of his aides confirmed.

Lucas, 64, said he'll likely always have screws in his body to anchor the damaged bones and will develop some arthritis as a result of his injuries. But he said he's grateful to be able to fully resume his duties – both in Congress and in Cheyenne, where he and his wife, Lynda, operate a ranch and farm.

“There’s nothing like a six- or seven-inch screw in one direction and a four in the other to kind of pull things back together,” he said. “I still know that my career as a bullfighter lasted three seconds. When I get out of that plane seat, either going to D.C. or coming back from D.C., I feel it, because sitting static for three hours kind of tightens me up a little bit. But I get loosened up.”

Bull attack was not the first time U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas had been injured working on his ranch

Lucas, a Republican who's the dean of Oklahoma’s seven-person congressional delegation, has continued ranching since taking office in 1994 – he believes he’s the only active farmer in Congress – and has been injured at least three times. In 1996, a cow kicked a gate into his face and broke Lucas’ nose. Lucas and a heifer butted heads in 2003, costing Lucas a tooth and resulting in emergency root canal surgery.

On Aug. 4, Lucas planned to take a stray bull to a nearby sale and give the proceeds to Roger Mills County, where his ranch is located. But as Lucas tried to load the bull, the animal escaped the trailer before Lucas could close a gate. In a chute only three feet wide, Lucas had nowhere to escape to avoid the charging bull, which hit him head on.

The impact spun Lucas around, and the bull’s hindquarters then drove Lucas’s right femur into the ball socket and broke his pelvis in several places. Lucas is grateful his femur didn’t also break.

His wife took Lucas to an emergency room and he was flown to OU Health University of Oklahoma Medical Center in Oklahoma City, where doctors inserted “extremely long screws” at different angles. For the next seven weeks, Lucas was unable to put any weight on his right side.

“I’m really quite fortunate, because farming is a physically dangerous business,” Lucas said. “If my 1,000-pound stray bull had been an inch one way or the other, or put his head down, the special election would already be over by now.”

On a serious note, Lucas said he’s “thankful that there are such things as Air Evac ambulances. I was happy that my friends at OU have a wonderful trauma hospital. I am very fortunate.”

By late September, Lucas was back at work in Congress, albeit gingerly. He’s gradually worked his way into a more normal routine since then, although there still are occasional issues. He said Wednesday he has remember to walk in a straight line.

“I’ll just wind up with the classic arthritis that everybody has, where those cracks repaired themselves,” he said. “I’ve got to keep moving. Advil and Tylenol will be my friend for many years to come. If that’s the biggest challenge I face, I’m right there along with the rest of my constituents.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: US Rep. Frank Lucas gets all clear after bull attack in Oklahoma