Girl Dies Bull Riding. VERY RARE ACCIDENT

Pretty 16 year old Brooke Ann Coats had a passion in this life. It was bull riding. The long haired Riverview High School student wanted to be a professional bull rider when she got older. Do many girls ride bulls? No. Most associations don't let them participate in bull riding. But Brooke would show up at the Crosstown Arena near Palm River and participate in their amateur bull riding events twice a month. Her parents signed waivers to allow her to ride that bull. She had her helmet and vest on but fate stepped in.

No stranger to what a bull could do, Brooke had 30 stitches in her leg from a bull tramping on her. She was determined to get back to bull riding as soon as it healed. She wasn't scared. She was passionate about bull riding.

Friday night, Brooke Ann was bucked off of a bull and she managed to stand and get to the side of the arena. But she was having trouble breathing and was rushed to the hospital where she died while in surgery. The bull had kicked her in the chest. No vest or helmet can protect you from that kind of direct kick. Brooke Ann Coats was pronounced dead, she died doing the thing that gave meaning to her life, bull riding.

Already condemnations are flying that are less than flattering to rodeos, bulls, Brooke Ann's parents and so on. At some point, we have to get back to the days when an accident is just that. Bull riding is a sport that is dangerous. That being said a death due to bull riding is very very rare. Maybe one death every year or so. How many kids get killed riding bikes every year? How about playing football, baseball or basket ball? Should extreme sports be banned too?

Many people die every day, how many die doing something they absolutely LOVE? Brooke Ann did. I'm sure her adrenaline was pumping just before she got on that bull. I'm sure there was a part of her that thought "this is the one I'm going to make 8 seconds on". She smelled the bull, felt his power underneath her and was loving every minute of it. Would it have been easier, more PC or less heartbreaking if she'd been killed in a car wreck on the way home? No.

To Brooke Ann Coat's parents and friends, I give my condolences. I wish them peace and solace. I praise them for rearing a gifted young girl. Brooke Ann was said to be quiet and shy, but she was strong and determined. She knew what she wanted and she went after it with gusto.

sources:
Tampa Bay . com
Fox