A 35-year-old bull rider died after suffering a traumatic chest injury during a rodeo at Fox Hollow Stables in Clearcreek Township, Ohio, on Saturday night. Jason Blake Saylor was wearing chest protection when he was hurt, but it wasn’t enough to save him, and he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
Police identified the rider as Jason Blake Saylor, according to fox19.com. The station reports Saylor suffered a traumatic chest injury after being kicked or stepped on by a bull, and that although he was wearing chest protection, he still sustained severe injuries to his chest. Medics treated him at the scene before he was taken to Atrium Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, the outlet reported.
The exact timeline of the emergency response is murky. Clearcreek Township police told local12.com that officers were called to Fox Hollow Stables around 7:40 p.m. on Saturday, while the same police department and EMS told the same fox19.com account that they responded around 7:41 p.m. A separate report in the Cincinnati Enquirer says the Clearcreek Township Fire District received a call at approximately 7:42 p.m. regarding a bull rider with a traumatic injury, according to cincinnati.com. None of the accounts reconcile the discrepancy.
Where the Accident Happened
Fox Hollow Stables sits at 1909 E. State Route 73 near Waynesville in Warren County. The venue hosts Fox Hollow Rodeo events every Saturday night at 6 p.m. throughout the year, offering both semi-pro and amateur bull riding, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. The New York Post reported that Fox Hollow Rodeo confirmed the death of one of its bull riders and expressed sadness while offering prayers for Saylor's family, friends and others affected.
What Ohio’s amusement-ride law covers
Ohio Revised Code Chapter 993, which covers amusement rides, excludes animals ridden in competitive events or shows, according to Ohio Revised Code. That means Chapter 993 does not establish rider-protection or emergency-medical requirements for rodeos; the exclusion alone does not determine whether other laws or event rules set such requirements.
Police say they are investigating Saylor's death as an accident, as reported by WXIX-TV (FOX19). Investigators are asking anyone with cellphone video, recordings or other information about the incident to contact police dispatch or Detective Sgt. Kevin Barton, the same report adds.
A Dangerous Sport, Even With Protection
Rodeo medicine researchers have long flagged bull riding as uniquely hazardous. Bull riding has ten times the injury rate of football, according to a report cited by NPR, which also noted that a study in the Kansas Journal of Medicine found bull and untamed horse riding among the most dangerous rodeo events. A 20-year study by the Canadian Academy of Sport Medicine found a rodeo fatality incidence rate of 4.05 per 100,000, according to Cronkite News, which also reported that the bull-riding injury rate is more than 10 times football's rate and more than 13 times the rate in ice hockey.
Protective equipment can reduce some risks but cannot prevent every serious injury. Research cited by Cronkite News found that riders wearing helmets had about half as many severe head injuries as riders wearing cowboy hats. A direct impact from an animal weighing well over a thousand pounds can still pose a grave danger.
Similar Scares Elsewhere
Saylor's death echoes a recent close call in New York City. A 25-year-old bull rider was injured after being trampled by the bull he was riding at a rodeo in the Baychester neighborhood of the Bronx, according to NBC New York. Video showed the rider thrown to the dirt, stomped by the bull and dragged several feet before other cowboys intervened, the outlet reported from the scene on Bruner Avenue. That rider was taken to Jacobi Hospital and was recovering, with the bull's horn having punctured his cheek and left him with a swollen eye after being stomped, per the same report.
No details have emerged about the specific bull involved in Saylor's death, nor has any coroner's finding on the precise cause or time of death been made public. For now, the investigation into what happened at Fox Hollow Stables remains open, with police relying on witnesses who may have captured the moment on their phones.
