ProRodeo Sports News - July 23, 2021

JCCF & COWBOYS

JCCF gives paralyzed cowboy Dodge van to help travels Special Delivery Photo courtesy Julian Whitcher Julian Whitcher, left, is all smiles after receiving a new van from the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund. PRCA rep Cody Rempelos delivered the van.

“This van gives me so much freedom. I can get in it and drive and go watch the rodeo in Deadwood, for example, and get to see my buddies rodeo.” – JULIAN WHITCHER

BY TRACY RENCK I n July 2008, JulianWhitcher’s life changed forever. Whitcher, now 37, was competing in a rookie saddle bronc riding event at Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days when the change came. “I was riding, and I got bucked off and landed on my head,” Whitcher said. “I lost a stirrup on my left side, and I thought, heck, I will keep on trying here. Then, I landed on my head. I remember waking up and a few of my buddies and people from Justin Sportsmedicine were asking me if I was all right, and I told them I was a little dazed.” The injuries Whitcher suffered were far worse than he initially thought. They left him paralyzed from his chest down after he broke his C6 and C7 vertebrae. The C6-C7 spinal motion segment bears the primary load from the weight of the head and provides support to the lower part of the neck. “I had just turned 24 and was rodeoing and entering all over the United States, and I was doing very well on my permit in bareback riding,” Whitcher said. “They (Cheyenne Frontier Days) wouldn’t let people on their permit into the rodeo to do bareback riding, but I rode broncs back in college, so I entered the rookie saddle bronc riding in Cheyenne.”

Adjusting to his life is a daily battle for Whitcher. “I have pretty good use of my arms, and doctors are pretty amazed about how I get around,” he said. “I was a free spirit and if I felt like going somewhere I would go rodeo. That’s my biggest struggle that I deal with is my mind. It’s very tough from being very independent and being free to where you struggle and have to ask for help or need assistance. A lot of people ask if I regret rodeoing, and in the blink of an eye, I tell them, ‘No.’ “I’ve met millions of friends and been millions of miles and have seen lots of places most people never get to see or experience. Without rodeo, I think I would’ve never experienced that. I love the sport of rodeo.” “I’ve been looking to buy a new van all over the place,” Whitcher said. “Those new vans run anywhere between $40,000 to $60,000 fully modified. The van I have is falling apart, I’ve driven it for so many miles and gotten my use out of it. I got it way cheaper back in the day. I was looking at vans, trying to think of ways to get a new van. I was saving money, saving every penny I could.” Some of Whitcher’s former buddies who still rodeo in JCCF COMES THROUGH For years, Whitcher was getting around in a 2007-model wheelchair-accessible van.

ProRodeo Sports News 7/23/2021

ProRodeo.com

54