A camel affectionately known as "Little Stinker" sent a prominent restaurant owner to the hospital and attacked another man on the grounds of La Caille at Quail Run Wednesday afternoon.
At 12:45 p.m. Steven Runolfson, part owner of La Caille restaurant, 9565 S. Wasatch Blvd., was taken by medical helicopter to LDS Hospital after the usually friendly 2,000-pound camel sat on him, assistant restaurant manager Missy Smith said."She's not a violent animal at all and Steven's a big guy so it's kind of surprising," she said.
Runolfson suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung and remained in serious condition Thursday morning at LDS Hospital.
The man might have died if not for the efforts of Jason Asplund, a limousine driver and son of La Caille's general manager. Asplund was able to ward off the camel's attack with a stick and get the animal off Runolfson, Smith said.
"He's awesome. I love Steven; it's really sad," she said.
Runolfson, who lives on the property at Quail Run and often takes care of the many exotic animals that reside near the upscale French restaurant, had been showing the camel to some friends when it began to bite one of the visitors. In an effort to stop the biting, Runolfson got under the animal and was sat on, Smith said.
Salt Lake County Sheriff's deputy Kim Bowman said the camel turned on Keith Kikel, 58.
"The camel had his head in her mouth," Bowman said. "I know what it is like to be bitten by a horse, but this had to be a lot worse."
Kikel was taken to Alta View Hospital in Sandy where he was treated and released.
Bowman said when he got the call, it came across the radio as a request to back up an ambulance on a camel attack.
The veteran officer said he thought he was hearing things.
"I thought 'a what? They've got to be kidding.' But then they three-beeped it (meaning it was serious) and so I hustled up there."
By the time Bowman arrived on the scene," the camel had calmed down.
It was the second time Runolfson was nearly been killed by "Little Stinker," Smith said.
Two years ago a grounds keeper happened to notice Runolfson's blue face sticking out from underneath the camel. Like Asplund Wednesday, the grounds keeper was able to get the beast off him before he suffocated, Smith said.
Besides the camel, the property is home to peacocks, llamas, reindeer and emus, she said.