Karate kid saved gored father by fighting off raging bull

A teenager who used his karate skills to fight off a bull which gored his father and flipped him in the air like a rag doll and another boy who saved a mother and child from drowning have received outstanding bravery awards from the gardaí.

John O’Donoghue, 16, was on the family farm near Mitchelstown, Co Cork, last June when a previously docile young bull attacked his father, Joe.

The youngster — who has won numerous national and international karate titles and will be representing Ireland at May’s European Championships in Germany — immediately jumped to his father’s aid after the 520kg beast knocked him to the ground and gored him.