The National
Spinal Cord
Injury Association

Disability in the News Archive

Former Champion Bull Rider Paralyzed, Not Expected To Walk

FORT WORTH -- March 16, 1998 -- Medical officials said yesterday that former world champion bull rider Jerome Davis will probably not walk again because of a broken neck suffered Saturday during the Tuff Hedeman Championship Challenge at Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum.

"It's a real severe injury and a poor prognosis for recovery," Dallas sports physician Tandy freeman said yesterday. "But there's still that possibility of what we consider a miracle happening."

Davis, 25, remained paralyzed from the chest down at Fort Worth's John Peter Smith Hospital. He was injured when he was thrown head first into the ground from a bull at a Professional Bull Riders Bud Light Cup Series show.

Davis, the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association's 1995 world bull riding champion from Archdale, North Carolina, suffered a compression fracture of two vertebra at the base of his neck.

Freeman, who regularly travels with the Professional Bull Riders tour to provide medical assistance, also tended two other injuries yesterday that occurred at the Hedeman event.

Cup series leader Adriano Moraes of Sao Paulo, Brazil, underwent surgery for a broken leg at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas. Freeman said the 1994 PBR cup series champion is expected to be sidelined for three or four months.

Adam Carrillo of Stephenville is scheduled to undergo surgery tomorrow after sustaining a fractured left forearm, Freeman said.

Carson Davis, Jerome's father, said the possibility of a serious injury always lingers in the back of a parent's mind.

"You're never prepared and you always wonder if this day will happen," the elder Davis said. "But the main thing is to step up. You can't be negative."

Carson Davis said that his son was accepting the news well.

"It's like he's had a bomb dropped on him," he said. "I thought he would fall apart. But he's done very well. He's got the right kind of attitude."

Said Davis' mother, Pam Simmons: "He's scared, but he will make it work. With Jerome, whatever is dealt to you, you handle it to the best of your ability."

Regardless of the final prognosis, Carson Davis said that his son will keep a strong tie to the rodeo circuit.

If Davis never mounts another bull, "he can be a great announcer or a great stock contractor," his father said.

For the past three years, Jerome Davis has been a key organizer of a PBR cup series show in Charlotte, North Carolina. This year's show, scheduled for June, is among 23 regular-season events in the PBR's cup series.

Davis received hospital visits yesterday from high-profile touring pros including Keith Adams, Clint Branger and JW Hart.

Hart, a three-time qualifier to the PBR's annual finals in Las Vegas who ranches near Gainesville, said Davis will rebound.

"Jerome has a heart bigger than my hat and he'll get over this," Hart said. "It's terrible that something like this has happened to such a great guy. But we know that the danger is out there. I've talked with him and he knows that injuries are part of it."

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