Rodeo has long been a favorite sport across the pond, and many have been fascinated by daredevils, who, wearing cowboy hats and dusty olive pants, compete to stay as long as possible on the backs of wild bulls.
So did 14-year-old Denim Bradshaw from North Carolina in the USA.
On January 28, he was to experience his dream of participating in a real rodeo for the first time.
It was also tragically his last.
Thrown off
According to New York Post witnesses at the scene are said to have said that the 14-year-old was thrown by the bull, which then stomped on his chest.
To the local newspaper Winston-Salem Journal tells the head of a local emergency unit that Bradshaw was still lying in the rodeo ring, unconscious, when emergency services arrived on the scene.
The health service gave him first aid, but his life could not be saved. He was pronounced dead at the hospital later that day.
– Last night I had the longest night of my life. My beautiful, handsome 14 year old son left to be with the Lord. I woke up to a nightmare for the rest of my life, writes Denim’s mother, Shannon, on Facebook about the incident.
The organizer of the rodeo, Rafter K. Rodeo, also expressed his sadness at the events.
– This is a tragic event and words cannot describe the pain the loss of him causes. We ask everyone to come together and pray for his family’s comfort and healing in this difficult time, writes the organizer on his Facebook-side.
– More than crushed
Aria (6) killed by her father’s golf swing
– Denim took the step into the world of bull riding and fell in love with it. The boots, the cowboy hats and the big belt buckles – he loved everything about it, says the Gofundme page his sister Persephone has set up to provide income for the family.
The details of what took place on that fateful January day are also shared.
– He got to ride his first bull on 28 January and his eagerness was palpable. None of us would have thought that his first ride would also cause his death and we are beyond devastated. Our dear 14-year-old boy lost his life in the most exciting moment of his short life, and now we are lost without him, the page reads.
Many people have taken the opportunity to show their sympathy, and the family has now been reimbursed for the expenses related to the 14-year-old’s death.
In an update, the sister writes:
– We have passed our goal, and it is something that I don’t think any of us expected. To call it gratitude would have been an understatement of what we feel.
