CSI rodeo athlete pushes forward after being paralyzed at Twin Falls County Fair [View all]
CSI rodeo athlete pushes forward after being paralyzed at Twin Falls County Fair
JULIE WOOTTON jwootton@magicvalley.com Sep 18, 2017
TWIN FALLS On the first night of the
Magic Valley Stampede PRCA Rodeo, Braxten Nielsen was the first competitor in bareback riding.
He nodded his head. The gate opened,
College of Southern Idaho head rodeo coach Steve Birnie said. The horse didnt leave like they do. ... The horse reared up that Aug. 31 night and smashed Nielsen against the back of the chute.
Braxten got his hand loose out of the rigging, landed in the sitting position and couldnt move, Birnie said. ... The 24-year-olds spinal cord was compressed and twisted, and he broke vertebrae in his back.
Quickly, Nielsen a Roosevelt, Utah, native and member of the CSI rodeo team was surrounded by bullfighters, emergency medical technicians, a physician and paramedics. ... Emergency responders loaded Nielsen into an ambulance, got him stabilized and sedated. He was in excruciating pain at that point, Birnie said. ... After arriving at
St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center, he was airlifted to the
University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City. Meanwhile, the rodeo at the Twin Falls County Fairgrounds in Filer hadnt even ended.