‘It’s just a really unfortunate situation’: First responders recall what happened when they found an elderly man who collided with a stray sheep and died

Neighbours who found a man after slamming into a stray sheep while on his pushbike - and later died - have spoken about the tragic event.

A man has died after hitting a sheep while on his bike. Picture: File/Generic

An elderly man has died after his push bike collided with a sheep earlier this week in the Adelaide Hills.

Emergency services were called out on Monday around 12.30pm to Watts Gully Rd at Forreston, near Gumeracha.

Reports suggested a man riding his bike had collided with a stray sheep.

A first responder who asked to remain anonymous said he was in his family paddock along Watts Gully Rd looking after their cattle when he saw the injured man.

The road where a man has died after he hit a stray sheep while riding his pushbike. Picture: Dasha Havrilenko

A man has died after he hit a stray sheep while riding his pushbike on a road at Forreston in the Adelaide Hills earlier this week. Picture: Dasha Havrilenko

“We didn’t see or hear the moment of the actual accident,” he told The Advertiser.

“Me and dad were in the cattle yards above the sheds just looking after the herd...and when I went to close the gates I saw the man below.

The father and son raced down to the injured man immediately and called emergency services.

“When we got to him, he didn’t have any external injuries, but he was obviously unconscious,” the responder recalled.

“He was also shaking and his breathing was wrong; it was as if he was snoring through his breathing.”

The son dialled triple-0 and assisted the injured man as best as he could during the time as they waited for ambulances to arrive.

“It was all very traumatic,” he said “my dad was really badly shaken and he tried to stay back most of the time.

“It’s just a really unfortunate situation, there are often stray sheep wandering around here.”

The 76-year-old man from Birdwood was taken to hospital for treatment of life-threatening injuries but died on Thursday.

The man’s death is the 33rd life lost on SA roads this year.

Originally published as ‘It’s just a really unfortunate situation’: First responders recall what happened when they found an elderly man who collided with a stray sheep and died