Bull rider Ernie Courson Jr. was having the best season of his ProRodeo career – then the Reno (Nev.) Rodeo Xtreme Bulls happened June 16.
During the short round, Courson, aboard, All In Pro Rodeos’ Regulator, the bull leaped out of the chute and pulled Courson down who then smashed his face against the bull’s hump.
“Honestly I can’t really tell you,” Courson said when asked what happened. “I don’t remember nodding and I woke up and my wife was telling me ‘wake up baby.’ I woke up and I looked around and I was in the hospital, and I thought how did I get here? She told me I got knocked out and broke a few bones in my face.”
Courson, who is 10th in the PRCA | RAM World Standings with $51,732, did analyze the ride after watching it on video.
“He blew up real high and snatched me down on top of his head,” said Courson, 28. “I went flying back toward the bucking chutes and you didn’t see me no more. I have been telling all my buddies he didn’t jerk me down, I jerked him up to me.
“I did a 10-day doctor release right now and they (doctors) said to give it four weeks. They told me that everything that is broken heals up pretty fast like my sinus cavity, my nose, my cheekbone and jaw and my orbital bone (underneath the eye).”
Courson is optimistic he will be able to return to compete at the NFR Open powered by RAM, July 13-16 in Colorado Springs, Colo.
“This is probably my worst wreck, having multiple fractures,” Courson said. “I want to make the NFR so I’m going to heal up. From now on, I’m going to ride with a helmet. I rode with a helmet when I was younger around 13 or 14, but I haven’t since then. It is a family move for me to start riding with a helmet. I have a 17-month-old and a 13-year-old.”
Article Courtesy of the PRCA
Photo By: William Kierce
