Remembering Glen Keeley
Susan Bedford remembers the career of rider Glen Keeley, and the shock of his death following an event in Albuquerque, N.M., 13 years ago.
PUEBLO, Colo. ― It is hard to write a story about lossand grief. My own experience is the only story I can accuratelyretell, so I hope it will at least cause people to pause andreflect on who we lost on March 24, 2000.
I'd seen far worse wrecks- we all had.
That was what made the news so surreal.
Dead.
How could he be dead?
We'd seen him walk out of the arena.
He was conscious when he left in the ambulance.
But he was now gone.
You could hear the phones ringing early in the morning atthe hotel as people relayed the news to each other.
Then gasps. And disbelief. And sobbing.
The kind and talented Canadian champion cowboy with theear-to-ear grin would never ride a bull again.
Almost 13 years ago an event rocked the PBR family. There wasn't acowboy, staff member, stock contractor or fan sitting in the arenain Albuquerque, N.M., who wasn't affected by it.
The day after Glen Keeley died was one of the longest daysof my life. There was still one more night of the PBR and all thestaff scrambled to prepare for the event. Everyone was shocked, butaware that we needed to honor his memory and that the show had togo on.
I was tasked with having memorial stickers made for thecowboys' vests. Not an easy task on a Saturday afternoon inAlbuquerque. I finally found a sign maker who had a printing pressat his home who could make the stickers in time for that evening'sperformance.
I sat at his kitchen table as we designed the memorialsticker. It was surreal and I kept wondering how it could beactually happening. When I tried to pay the designer for thestickers, he declined and just asked for "really good" tickets tothat night's performance. He might have been being generous, but itstruck me as callous. I took tickets from my briefcase, then tookthe stickers back to my rental car and threw up on the side of theroad.
Then I had to hold a press conference. It was the firstone I'd ever done on my own. I had been so excited to be workingthe Ty Murray Invitational for the PBR and now there was nothing Idreaded more. It was the first really big event I was handling onmy own in my new job in the public relations department.
I contacted the media and sent out a press release. Iarranged the room at the arena and made sure that Randy Bernard,Cody Lambert, Ty Murray and then-president Tuff Hedeman were allpresent. I made a brief statement to the assembled group of TV andprint media and then turned it over to the guys. I don't rememberexactly what anyone said, but I know I wasn't the only one fightingback tears.
It really was a freak accident. Promise Land bucked Glenoff and he wound up under the bull's hooves. It was evident rightaway that his arm was probably broken. It turned out he also hadbroken ribs and a punctured lung, but none of that was enough tokill him. Glen had been talking and joking with the nurses when hearrived at the hospital.
Dr. Tandy Freeman explained to us what happened. Glen's vitals hadbeen OK until they opened up his abdominal cavity at the hospital.He essentially bled to death before they could repair the internaldamage and fix his lacerated liver.
The show did go on that night. I think most of us were just goingthrough the motions without realizing what we were really doing.The cowboys didn't have that luxury though. They had to be focusedto ride bulls. They were somber, but determined to ride and win forGlen. I think almost everyone that year rode in honor of Glen'smemory and at the 2000 PBR World Finals there was a moving tributeto the late cowboy.
Glen was sitting ninth in the PBR's World Standings when hepassed. It was one of his best years on record and he already hadnearly $34,000 in earnings ― enough to guarantee him aspot at the World Finals back then. Glen had a bright career inCanada, but wanted to compete among the best cowboys in the worldso he came to the PBR.
In 1983, Glen was the boys steer riding champion in Canada and hadsix Canadian titles ― the first coming in 1989, the year he turnedpro. By 1994, Glen was one of the first cowboys riding in andsupporting the newly formed PBR. Glen came from a rodeo family. Hisbrother Jason had nearly been killed by a bull in 1994. Yet thatdeterred none of the Kelleys from following their passion. Jasonrecovered from his wreck completely.
Glen's death affected everyone differently. I remember howunbelievably kind and gracious his family was to everyone, despitetheir own sorrow. It made me reconsider if I wanted to work in anindustry where my friends could die. The local news, then thenational news, picked up the story. Each report I saw left meangry ― it was a sensational, tragic story, but noneof them focused enough on the person we had just lost.
Glen's death made a lot of people reevaluate their ownlives, choices and beliefs. Clint Branger had been toying with theidea of retirement for some time. When Glen died, Clint decided itwas time to hang up his spurs for good and he promised his2-week-old baby boy that he would not ride again.
Years after Glen's death, I would still see the memorialstickers on cowboys' vests. As new riders broke into the top spotsand cowboys retired, the stickers grew fewer and farther betweenuntil several years passed with me seeing none. But each year inLas Vegas, when a Canadian cowboy wins the Glen Keeley Award, thesticker is still there ― even if it is justsymbolically. He is also honored in Canada each year through theGlen Keeley Memorial Bull Riding and the Glen Keeley Benevolent& Scholarship Fund set up in his honor.
I will be in Albuquerque again this year with the ABBI,who I now work for. It has probably been at least seven years sinceI was in New Mexico. I was relieved when the Ty Murray Invitationalchanged venues. The BFTS event is now held at The Pit, instead ofthe arena where Glen got on his last bull. It's not that I want toforget what happened, it is just less painful not to be in thatsame arena anymore.
I'd like to think that this is the year I can keep it together,but I doubt it. Glen was just a year older than I. I'm saddenedthat we lost one of the greats and am still trying to make sense ofit. The only comfort comes from knowing that he died doing what heloved. He had told a Calgary newspaper reporter earlier that year"The reason why I rode bulls is because I love it." In retrospect,the fact that he speaks in a past tense is appropriately heartbreaking.
This was just my story about Glen. He was bright and funnyyet humble and touched so many lives. He was a gentleman and acowboy. I wish I had more time to know him better and I wish he hadthe opportunity for more rides. Whether you were lucky enough tomeet him, see him ride or if just know about him through stories-please take a moment to think of him this week. If you never got tosee his talent, search for his rides on YouTube.
More than 1,500 people came out to honor Glen at his funeral inCanada. He was loved and respected by so many cowboys and fansaround the world. As deep as everyone's grief was, it paled next tothe sorrow of those who lost a son, a best friend, a brother or afellow bull rider who might as well been a brother.
Several years after his death Brock Mortensen posted this on asocial media page in Glen's honor:
"Glen was and always will be one of my ultimateheroes. He helped me out when I was down and whenever I saw him onthe road when we weren't traveling together it made me feel like Iwas seeing a family member. He was a great cowboy and fried I stillthink about him daily. I have his sticker on the window of my truckso whenever I look in my mirror I think about his smile and uniqueriding style."
Glen, you are missed.