Sleeping Man Killed By Falling Cow

A Brazilian man died due to injuries sustained when a cow fell through the roof of his bedroom while he was sleeping.

Joao Maria de Souza and his wife, Leni were asleep in bed when the 3,000 pound cow crashed through the roof, reports the Telegraph. The cow is believed to have escaped from a nearby farm, then walked onto the roof which abuts a steep hillside. Unable to support the load, the roof caved in, at which point the bovine fell 8 feet onto de Souza's side of the bed.

While his wife and the animal were fine, de Souza suffered a fractured leg and was taken to the hospital. After spending several hours at the hospital, the 45-year-old Brazilian passed away, likely a result of internal bleeding.

"Being crushed by a cow in your bed is the last way you expect to leave this earth," de Souza's brother told Hoje em Dia, a Brazilian newspaper, in a translation provided by the Telegraph. "But in my view it wasn't the cow that killed our Joao, it was the unacceptable time he spent waiting to be examined."

Contacted by SuperCanal, a Brazilian TV station, the hospital denied any wrongdoing and maintained de Souza received adequate care.

According to the Daily Mail, De Souza's mother, Maria, told SuperCanal: "I didn't bring my son up to be killed by a falling cow. He nearly died when he was two and got meningitis, but I worked hard to buy medicines for him and he survived."

"And now he's lying in his bed and gets crushed to death by a cow," she continued. "There's no justice in the world."

Per Hoje em Dia, the owner of the cow has yet to be identified, but may face charges related to de Souza's death.

WATCH SuperCanal's report on the incident (in Portuguese):