19-year-old bull rider fatally wounded during rodeo west of Calgary.
Family and friends are mourning Seth Saulteaux, the 19-year-old bull rider who died during a weekend Indian National Finals Rodeo (INFR) event on the Stoney Nakoda First Nation.
Saulteaux, who was from Maskwacis, embraced the rodeo life, following in the steps of his bull-riding grandfather Marcel Saulteaux. Seth travelled with his grandfather to rodeo events across North America before, the age of 14, when he rode his first bull.
Seth qualified for the INFR main event in Las Vegas three times and had set his sights on riding in the Professional Bull Riders circuit.
On Saturday, those aspirations ended as he suffered a fatal blow on what proved to be his final ride.
Seth’s mother Raylene received the heartbreaking news by phone from a friend at the Chiniki Rodeo Grounds.
“She called me when he collapsed and they were trying to revive him,” Raylene told Global News. “Then I lost the signal.”Marcel, the grandfather who Seth insisted on calling dad, recounted Seth’s last moments.“He got hit pretty hard,” said Marcel, adding that his grandson was wearing a helmet and other protective gear. “He got up and got out of the arena and told one of his cousins ‘Call my grandpa’, and then he fell down.“That was it. That was the last of it. They took him in the ambulance. They didn’t even get half mile out of there and he was gone. We raced out there (but) he was gone. He was gone. I think the whole rodeo came to be with us.”Marcel said he had originally tried to push Seth toward roping events but they couldn’t compete with bull riding for a place in his grandson’s heart.“He always wanted to be a cowboy,” said Marcel of Seth, who “had the most infectious smile you’d ever see. You watch him and (are) so proud of him. Sometimes you just swallow your pride and (are) just in awe of him. He tried so hard and wasn’t afraid to do what he was doing.”Pro Bull Rider Amadeu Campos Silva Dead at 22 After Freak Accident at Competition
Amadeu Campos Silva, a professional bull rider on the rise in the U.S., has died at age 22 following a freak accident during a competition on Sunday, Aug. 29.Bull rider killed in ‘freak’ accident’ during competition.
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) — A Brazilian bull rider was killed Sunday when his spur got caught in a rope, pulling him under the bull, and the animal stepped on his chest in California, according to the Professional Bull Riders touring group.
Amadeu Campos Silva, 22, was competing at a bull-riding Velocity Tour event at the Save Mart Center in Fresno, said Andrew Giangola, a spokesperson for Professional Bull Riders. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Campos Silva lost his balance and his spur got stuck in the flank strap, which is wrapped around the bull’s lower torso to encourage it to buck. In a “freak accident,” Campos Silva was pulled underneath the bull, which then stomped on his chest, Giangola said.
The Fresno County coroner’s office confirmed Campos Silva’s death but has not yet determined the cause.
Giangola said the bull, named “Classic Man,” will still be eligible for future events despite the tragedy. The bull was not at fault, he said.
“It clearly was not an act of aggression,” he said. “The bull was bucking in his normal pattern.”
“A bull rider with a lot of promise,” Campos Silva competed in the 2020 Professional Bull Riders World Finals after debuting in the United States the year before. He was pursuing his dream to support his family.
“He was a determined cowboy,” Giangola said.
