Rodeo Medics Face Toughest Challenges

The injuries sustained by rodeo riders are among the most challenging faced by the doctors who work to keep the cowboys riding. Jessica Barrett, writing in the Calgary Herald, says rodeo riding is one of the toughest sports there is on the human body.

She quotes Cooper Davis who broke his jaw, his shoulder and his ankles. Four days after he broke his jaw he was back in the ring competing with two screws in his bottom jaw and three on the top.

Working at the Calgary Stampede, one of North America’s leading rodeos, is the Canadian Pro Rodeo Sport Medicine Team. Leading up to rodeo finals, the treatment team may see as many as 40 competitors per day. Contusions are the most common injuries but they are followed by knee, back and neck injuries as well as fractures.

Davis notes that it is the addition of the animals and the unpredictability of rodeo that makes the sport a compelling arena for medical professionals. Davis quotes therapist Krista Burton as saying, “The amount of trauma that cowboys are exposed to and their ability to compete is really good for us. What we get to see here pushes the envelope of what we see and helps us to think outside the box.”

As reckless as rodeo can seem, she points out that participants in rodeo understand that, to succeed, they have to take care of their bodies and, to help them do that, they forge long-term relationships with the care team to ensure they stay as healthy as possible.

That attitude has helped long-time competitors in the rodeo ring survive. The two-time world champion steer wrestler, Dean Gorsuch, has had reconstructive surgery on his right knee, pectoral surgery and treatment for a pinched nerve and elbow surgery.