CANADIAN bareback rider Austin Broderson was sent to the ICU after suffering a horror rodoe accident.
Austin was seriously injured after the horse he was riding stomped on his head and dragged him through the Colorado arena.
Who is Austin Broderson?
Austin, 19, is a rodeo rider from Turin, Alberta who suffered terrible injuries during a competition in January in the US.
He was competing for the Casper College rodeo team in Wyoming before being sent to Denver Health Hospital.
An article in Cowboy Channel said that Austin competed for the first time as a novice in November 2023.
It says he wanted to have a future as a professional rodeo rider.
Footage on his Facebook page shows Austin riding a bucking bronco in November and competently holding onto the horse for 15 seconds.
A GoFundMe has been launched by his uncle to help Austin’s recovery.
It describes Austin as: “Everybody who has ever met Austin knows he is a special kind of person. He is smart, funny, hardworking, kind and a hell of a talented bare back bronc rider.”
The GoFundMe’s target is $70,000 CAD, with the amount raised quickly increasing.
How was Austin Broderson injured?
Footage showed his head being stamped on by the horse and being dragged between the horse’s back legs as it ran through the arena.
Austin had slipped from the side of the horse shortly after the starting buzzer sounded at the Western Stock Show in Denver.
News reports said that by the time he was freed he was unconscious and bleeding heavily.
All this was caught on camera, with his parents watching helplessly on TV at home in Canada.
Will Austin Broderson recover?
Austin’s injuries are extensive with the young rider spending a night in ICU.
His injuries include: internal bleeding, a neck fracture, a damaged artery, multiple hip fractures, spinal bruises, and a loss of feeling in his arm.
As of writing, his uncle said he has no mobility in his left arm.
Towards the end of the week, Austin’s injuries were healing and he was downgraded from ICU, his mom, Sam, revealed on the GoFundMe.
She said he was much more awake, able to sit upright for two hours, his mobility had increased, but that there had been no progress on his left arm’s mobility.
Family described his road to recovery as “long”, with the rider likely having to go through some sort of physical therapy to regain use of his left arm.
Speaking to ProRodeo Sports News, Sam said his spinal cord remained intact.
“When Austin is awake, he’s trying to crack jokes and tell the doctors his pain level is 2 out of 10, which none of us believe. He’s trying to keep us pre-occupied and not worried, so that’s a good sign.”
