Posted on 06/29/2009 4:53:27 PM PDT by mojito
Twelve-year-old Richard Wayde Hamar of Yuma was killed in a bull-riding competition Sunday morning at the Little Britches Rodeo at the Boulder County Fairground in Longmont.
Hamar was wearing a helmet and padded vest, but after he was thrown, the bull stepped on his stomach, officials said.
His parents were in attendance at the two-day rodeo for youths 8 to 18 years old.
"He held on for a few seconds," Katy Sinclair, who witnessed the accident, told the Daily Camera. "When he hit the ground, the bull just ran him over. I could see the bull's legs hit his chest.
"It was one of the worst things I've ever seen," she said. "It was horrible."
A woman who answered the phone at the Hamar residence in Yuma said the family was too distraught to talk Sunday evening.
Mitch Hamar, the boy's father, is in the livestock business in Yuma.
Rodeo clowns chased the bull away and emergency personnel already at the event began life-saving efforts, according to the Boulder County Sheriff's Office. The boy was rushed to Longmont United Hospital, where he died from internal injuries.
(Excerpt) Read more at denverpost.com ...
I enjoy rodeo, and especially bullriding, but I'm not sure that kids should be doing it.
A bull is an INCREDIBLY powerful animal, most especially dangerous when angry or excited. Certainly nothing for a 12 year old child to be messing with.
Very sad.
Some Democratic dork like Henry Waxman will probably use this as an excuse to put on his wiser-than-you-big-brother hat and introduce a bill to outlaw bull riding--and maybe rodeos in general.
Now, here's the part that disturbs me. Those damn vultures at the Denver Post are calling the household of a family that just watched their son die a horrible death and they expect the family to come to the phone and talk to the media about it. Man, I can't stand it to watch these parasites and their voyuerism whenever somebody dies. It's sickening.
If I were the Dad, I would have grabbed an airhorn and come to the phone and said "You want a quote? I'll give you a quote" and then blasted their ear with the airhorn. Then I would have hung up the phone.
I was a pretty cocky little boy but 8 year-old's shouldn't handle full auto firearms and 12 year-old's should try to handle rodeo bulls.
Maybe I'm wrong but I don't think so.
PETA already protests rodeos.
I concur with your post. You don’t see “Kiddie NASCAR” or anything that completely dangerous being offered as a sport to adolescents.
18, sure, they are the age of consent, but younger that that seems very naive.
If they let him ride a full grown bull, they should be held responsible for not protecting their child.
Most of the NASCAR drivers started racing go carts when they were 5 or 6 years old. Check it out.
I am pro-rodeo but don’t think parents have the right to endanger their kids.
If someone wants to race cars, skydive, fly planes, bull ride -
they can choose the risk when they reach adulthood.
My sincerest sympathies to the parents. I do not blame them. They made a mistake, with tragic consequences.
Along these same lines, why would they have just turned off the phone ringer, turned on the answering machine and let the machine deal with incoming calls?
Good grief that’s why we have switches and setting and options so that we can just have a machine deal with it when we don’t want to.
Children lack the coordination and reflexes to get out of the way of most animals let alone a bull. It’s crazy that parents would let children as young as eight participate in bull riding.
Way off topic, because rodeo is off my radar, but a couple of weeks ago wifey and I spent a relatively nice night (I say "relatively" because the town is sadly depressed) in Pecos, Texas.....their main claim to fame seems to be that the first ever rodeo was held there in something like 1883.
Another tidbit about poor Pecos....lacking much in the way of dining, we took a crapshoot on the local Chinese buffet........best damn meal we had during our entire four weeks cruising the entire lower third of the country. This little place was not "Panda Express", it was fine veggies, great gulf shrimp dishes and tummies full of great grub.
Not full-sized cars...these weren’t pint-sized bulls (calves)
Yes, the government should stay out of our lives as much as possible.
Yes, people need to use more common sense.
I grew up on a cattle farm and rode horses. I rode a bull just one time, at a rodeo. I was young (19) and tough. I thought. It hurt. A lot. But was only badly bruised.
My dad told beforehand that bull riding was gladiator stuff. Unlike most of the rodeo events, it had nothing to do with ranching. He was right again.
Upon throwing the horse rider, the horse will not attack him/her. It might accidently step on him/her. The bull is ‘a whole nuther critter’. He will attack the thrown rider.
Most people would be horrified at my childhood when I was living in the country. I’m even surprised I survived! But, we sure had fun!
No, most people don’t understand things they know nothing about. Don’t let them upset you.
I saw the Mutton Bustin' contest at the Houston Rodeo. Best event of the whole rodeo. It was so adorable I wanted to go home and MAKE kids just so they could participate in the event. Those kids were tough, too.
Kids start driving at 4? I started driving my parents tractors and lawnmowers around then...is that what you mean?
As for riding sheep, I guess that makes sense, too.
I just think 12 is pretty young to ride a full sized bull, FRiend.
I don’t fight with other Freepers, too much in common and I would hate to have to flatten the tires of your trailer and break your still.
ROFL!
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