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Autopsy Shows Bull Rider, 12, Died From Trauma To Heart

Boy Was Wearing Helmet, Protective Vest

POSTED: 4:47 pm MDT June 29, 2009
UPDATED: 8:06 am MDT June 30, 2009

An autopsy report released Monday shows a boy who was stomped by a bull during a rodeo died from a blow to the heart.

Richard Wayde Hamar, 12, of Yuma, Colo., was riding in the junior bull riding event at the Longmont Elks Little Britches Rodeo Sunday when he was thrown from the animal, and it stepped on his chest and stomach.

Hamar was wearing protective gear, including a helmet, vest and mouthpiece.

“It’s hard. It’s really hard,” said Orin Buchanan, the first bullfighter to reach Hamar. “Knowing the kids had years of life and bull riding ahead of him, and that after this one accident it was all taken.”

Buchanan has been in the rodeo business for 20 years and this is the third death he has witnessed, but he said it is the first child ever killed at a Little Britches Rodeo Event.

The National Little Britches Rodeo Association has not responded to requests for information about its safety record.

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