Bull rider ready to go again
Roy hopes to be back in the saddle for 2015 Stampede
CA LGA RY — Injured bull rider Aaron Roy dragged himself by his arms back to the safety of the chute, unable to feel his legs.
Seconds earlier, he had been in that same chute at the 2013 Calgary Stampede, astride Gretsky, an enormous, angry bull.
But something went wrong after Roy gave the nod to release the door. The animal hit himself as he exited the chute, forcing Roy’s hand to slip from the rope.
As Roy fell to the dirt, Gretsky’s hind feet trampled the cowboy, folding him in half, fracturing his vertebrae and breaking his jaw.
His shot at the $100,000 prize money was gone, his champion season over. He was hospitalized for 14 days and screws and rods were placed in his spine to support the fracture.
Doctors later told him he was incredibly lucky not to have permanently lost feeling below his ribs.
That was July 11, 2013 — an unforgettable date for Roy and his wife Hallie, who was three months pregnant at the time.
After walking out of hospital with a cane, Roy spent two months at his Yellow Grass, Sask., home with limited activity. As his fracture healed, he started physiotherapy four times a week, working hard to regain his strength and eventually return to riding horses.
The 27-year-old has his one-year checkup scheduled this week.
“I’m hoping to hear that I’m 100 per cent recovered,” he said.
His goal is to return to the sport he has loved since high school.
“My surgeon isn’t encouraging me to return, but he has said he won’t keep me from trying. I want to get back to where I was. If I can’t do it at that level, I don’t want to do it any more.”
Hallie has also struggled watching her husband’s fight to recover from his injury and return to the career he desperately missed.
“No one wants to see their loved one go through a life-changing thing like this. It’s been hard seeing something take him away from what he loves. I’ve often said to him ‘I wish I could trade you places’.”
It’s been a difficult year, but welcoming their first child, Axel, in January was a bright spot.
Hallie is torn between supporting her husband’s wish to return to riding and her fears for his safety.
But Roy isn’t afraid to return to bull riding, saying risk is simply part of the sport. He dreams of returning to form in time for Stampede 2015.