PUEBLO, Colo. – It was winter of 2013, and Koben Puckett was wondering how it had all gone so terribly wrong.
He was high and intoxicated, sitting by himself in a pickup truck with the heater left on, and felt like he was going to pass out.
“I was scared of life and the thought of what if I was not going to keep going,” Puckett said. “Is this how I want to keep going?”
Five years earlier, in 2008, at 19 years old, Puckett had suffered a spinal cord injury, fracturing his C5-6 vertebrae, left paralyzed from the neck down. He underwent years of physical therapy and a stem cell procedure in 2011, but by 2012-13, he was out of funding and out of motivation to keep going.
That’s when he found himself in that pickup truck.
“I had a God encounter,” Puckett said. “I had an actual Jesus encounter, and so I shifted, changed community, changed who I hung around—got around people with victor mindsets, not victims. Got around people involved in PBR again. And pursued life.”
In 2014, he held his first bull riding event in Amarillo, Texas.
“I decided to host a PBR event to pull myself up out of a state of hopelessness and take a shift, get new people around me, get back on track in the direction I’m supposed to go,” Puckett said. “I had to learn to not be a victim. I started feeling sorry for myself and blaming life for the things that happened to me. I had to decide to be powerful and take control of my life.”
Puckett’s dream had always been to be a bull rider. His family raised bucking bulls and had several competing on the premier series and at the PBR World Finals, so he’d known that was where he wanted to be.
While he didn’t make it there himself, in 2014, he found himself at the premier series event in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to watch his bull Jukebox Hero compete.
“We went to watch that bull buck, and that’s where I made connections with some of the right people to help me pull this off and make it happen,” he said. “So that’s how I stayed involved in the bucking bull side, but I had a bit of a bitterness or unhealed thought process towards bull riding because it was taken away from me.”
In 2015, the PBR sanctioned Puckett’s event, and it became an annual staple on the Touring Pro Division calendar. This year, the Koben Puckett PBR is part of the Challenger Series and will be held on July 9 and streamed live on RidePass on Pluto TV.
“2019 was the first time we went indoors, and that was just, to me, where I wanted to be,” Puckett said. “I found myself pleased with the event. This is what I dreamt of doing. It took me that many years to get there. And in 2019, there was 1,650 in attendance. Last year, there was 2,142 people in attendance. Starting outside in 2015, there was probably 600 people in attendance.”
It’s been incredible growth for an event with an incredible cause. While the goal initially was to raise money for Puckett’s own rehab and recovery, it now benefits the Press On Foundation. Started by Puckett’s mother following his accident, Press On provides physical therapy scholarships for those recovering from spinal cord injuries. One of last year’s recipients, Adriano Moreno, received enough funding for a year’s worth of therapy that costs $120 an hour.
Since its inception, Puckett says Press On has given scholarships to seven or eight people. In eight years, the Koben Puckett PBR has raised close to $90,000 and in 2021 alone, it raised $30,000.
“It’s what I envisioned, so to have a dream, to work towards something, an idea, and accomplish it, is awesome,” Puckett said. “I don’t know how to put it. I’m pleased with it. The bigger it gets, the more work that comes with it. It doesn’t always get easier. I just have really learned how to do it.”
Puckett credits Bo Davis and Cody Lambert for helping him make the event what it is. He also credits Joao Ricardo Vieira as a catalyst for getting so many top-level Brazilian riders in the draw. Indeed, this year’s event will feature such riders as Junior Patrick Souza, Adriano Salgado, Wallace Vieira de Oliveira, Joao Henrique Lucas, Rubens Barbosa and 2022 World Champion Ednei Caminhas, as well as Andrew Alvidrez and Jesse Petri.
Souza won the 2021 Koben Puckett PBR, while Vieira won in 2018.
RELATED: Koben Puckett PBR Daysheet
As Press On’s first beneficiary, Puckett got back into physical therapy. Since 2015, he’s increased the mobility in his right arm and his core stability. He can roll a manual wheelchair, drive and take fully assisted steps using a walker.
He also stopped holding onto his bitterness about his life’s circumstances.
“I don’t have a loss. I don’t have pain,” Puckett said. “The night I chose to get on, I made the best decision I could’ve ever made to have gotten on, and I’m proud of myself. I’m not in control of an accident, and the God I know loves me, and his will is on earth as it is in heaven.
“I’m so grateful for the places I got to go. I’m so grateful for my accomplishments. What brings me joy is meeting some of these young men coming up that have really good attitudes, are really kind, and ride good. And I’m happy watching them.”
Photos courtesy of Liz Sinclair
