Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

A miracle on bull-riding circuit

Akin doing 'real good' after crushed skull

By Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 15, 2009 at 12:05 a.m.

Text size  
Dr. Steven Morgan examines bull rider Tony Mendes while J.C. Navarro, who was injured during competition Monday, stands on crutches in the medical room.

Photo by Brian Lehmann / The Rocky

Dr. Steven Morgan examines bull rider Tony Mendes while J.C. Navarro, who was injured during competition Monday, stands on crutches in the medical room.

Navarro hits the dirt at the end of his ride during the Professional Bull Riders Chute-Out at the Denver Coliseum on Monday. Navarro was injured when the bull stepped on him.

Photo by Brian Lehmann / The Rocky

Navarro hits the dirt at the end of his ride during the Professional Bull Riders Chute-Out at the Denver Coliseum on Monday. Navarro was injured when the bull stepped on him.

Former rodeo rider Lee Akin, left, sits with his friend Corey Navarre and watches TV at the National Western Stock Show on Wednesday. Akin was severely injured in a bull ride two years ago.

Photo by Joshua Duplechian / Special To The Rocky

Former rodeo rider Lee Akin, left, sits with his friend Corey Navarre and watches TV at the National Western Stock Show on Wednesday. Akin was severely injured in a bull ride two years ago.

More Stock Show

More stories »

Lee Akin sits on a sofa inside the hospitality area at the National Western Stock Show, his eyes trained on a television airing the night's Professional Bull Riders Chute-Out.

Every few minutes, one of his old friends from the bull-riding circuit approaches, taps him on the shoulder and reaches out to shake his hand.

"Good to see you, Lee," one of the guys says.

"How've you been?" another asks.

That the 34-year-old Oklahoman is alive today after a bull crushed his skull in early 2007 is a wonder to everyone.

That he is here in Denver and able to chat up the guys right back, his friends and family say, is a testament to the power of prayer.

"He's a walking miracle," said Akin's friend and fellow bull rider Corey Navarre.

Akin doesn't remember much about his accident, other than getting on the bull, saying, "Let's go man," and then hitting the dirt.

"And I was out," Akin recalled.

For Navarre, who traveled to rodeos for years with Akin, the memory is much more vivid.

It was March 8, 2007, at the Southeastern Livestock Exposition and Rodeo in Montgomery, Ala. Navarre watched as Akin got bucked off and landed toward the bull's head. The bull went to hook him, and appeared to graze the side of Akin's skull.

From where Navarre was watching, it didn't seem that serious. But Akin was unconscious.

Navarre climbed into the ambulance with his friend, who didn't wake up but was writhing around and making noises.

Navarre started praying.

At the hospital, doctors whisked Akin away. Moments later, one of them came out and told Navarre to get Akin's family on the phone. Lee's wife, Mary, had given birth to their daughter, Jada, about six months earlier.

"The doc said, 'He may not make it,' " Navarre recalled. "That's when it really hit me."

Akin was put in a drug-induced coma and underwent his first neurosurgery. Doctors said if he survived, it was unlikely he would live a normal life again.

About three weeks later, Akin was brought out of the coma. Slowly, he began responding to his family and to doctors' commands. Within another month, he was breathing on his own, holding his head up and moving both sides of his body.

After another surgery and a return to Oklahoma, Akin began rehab, and his speech and mobility continued to improve.

In June - almost three months to the day of his traumatic brain injury - he sang the ABC's with Jada.

Through all of it, rodeo fans and fellow cowboys and their families kept tabs on Akin's recovery via the Internet and Professional Bull Riders' news releases. Hundreds sent get-well wishes to a Web site detailing his progress.

Today, Akin is walking and talking and happy to be traveling from time to time with Navarre and other friends.

He remembers faces and words but cannot yet write and has some trouble forming the words he wants to say. When he gives his age, for example, he holds up his fingers and says "three, four," rather than 34.

He will never ride bulls again. But he was getting up there in age and probably was going to have to retire soon anyway, he said.

Mostly, Akin is thankful to God - and for the thousands of people who prayed for his recovery - for getting him through this.

"To go back and be normal is going to take me a long time," Akin said. "But I'm going to keep trying, and eventually I will get there."

Just then, another cowboy approaches, happy to see him.

"How's it going?" he asks.

"Good," Akin says. "Real good."

burnetts@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5343

Gearing up for a rough ride

Used to be, a glove and cowboy hat were pretty much the only protective gear guys put on before getting on a bull. Today, bull riders in the Professional Bull Riders circuit are required to wear protective vests. The use of other gear, such as face masks and helmets, is growing more and more common.

Corey Navarre, a bull rider from Oklahoma, competed for about a decade without a helmet. He started wearing one in 2003, after crushing his eye socket and cheekbone.

Navarre didn't have the same trouble adjusting that some guys have, and so far it's been worth it.

"It's saved me several times from a trip to the hospital," he said.

The gear

Here's a look at some of the gear worn - or not - in what's called "America's original extreme sport":

* Helmet and/or face mask: Absorbs blows on the head and protects the face and jaw. Some riders wear helmets with no face mask. Some opt not to wear either because they feel that vision is obstructed or extra weight throws off balance.

* Protective vest: Invented by a former bull rider and required by the PBR. Protects torso from serious injury caused by a bull's hooves or horns and absorbs the impact of blows.

* Cowboy hat: Serves as a layer of protection from sharp hooves.

* Glove: Worn only on the hand that grips the bull rope. Protects hand and fingers.

* Chaps: Worn by all PBR riders. Provide an extra layer of protection from horns and hooves and often display logos of a rider's sponsor.

* Athletic cup: Not worn by any PBR rider because it's "just plain uncomfortable."

Rodeo results SPORTS 15

Comments

  • January 16, 2009

    9:34 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Sam_Scottson writes:

    No miracle here, just damn fine doctoring. Doesn't God have enough to do without worrying about grown men riding animals for no real reason?