Riley Schmidt recovering after horror rodeo injury

A North Queensland rodeo star has suffered a horrific injury and faces a long road to recovery, but the young gun has vowed “this ain’t gonna stop me”. WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

A North Queensland rodeo star has suffered a horrific injury and faces a long road to recovery, but the young gun has vowed “this ain’t gonna stop me”.

Riley Schmidt was practising for the upcoming rodeo season on February 11 when he raised his hand to help out being a clown.

The teenager said he didn’t think anything of it when he jumped in with the bull.

Riley Schmidt, 13. Picture: Heidi Petith

“There was a bullfighter there and he was teaching me how to be a clown,” Riley said.

“The bull was in the arena with me and he turned and ran at me.

“I ran, jumped and flipped the fence. I threw my legs over first and my back hand was still on the top rail. The bull kicked it and took my thumb clean off.

“It was a pretty good learning curve, don’t leave your thumb in the arena.”

Riley said he “didn’t feel a thing” because of the shock which immediately took over his mind and body.

“I thought it was a dream. I took my glasses off and looked down and said ‘oh s--t, my thumb’s gone’.

“All the boys were saying I was bull----ing them, so I gave them the thumbs up and they were saying ‘it’s gone’ and started stressing out.”

Riley jumped into his mate Jackson’s ute to race to an ambulance which had been called.

Tucked between his feet was his thumb sitting on ice in an Esky.

“I rang mum and she couldn’t believe it. She thought I was joking because we do that sort of thing.”

Riley and his mum Christina were rushed to Townsville University Hospital and immediately flown to Brisbane to the Queensland Childrens Hospital.

Soon after he arrived Riley underwent a nine-and-a-half hour surgery to reattach his thumb and has since undergone a further three surgeries.

“My thumb is fully attached but it’s dying slowly.

“I have surgery on Thursday to take away the dead tissue and keep the viable tissue. I could lose most of the thumb, they don’t know.”

The 13-year-old said he was staying optimistic in hospital, despite uncertainty about what lied ahead.

“I’ve got my support team with me; mum and grandma. It’s good because I get to beat my grandmother at Scrabble (laughs).

“I’m trying to stay positive. You’ve got to do what you got to do. If it’s going to die you just have to move on.”

The Blackheath and Thornburgh College student also tore his MCL and PCL when he jumped over the fence during the frightening ordeal.

He said he didn’t realise until days later because he was too stressed about his thumb.

Despite the horrific injuries, the young gun is determined to not leave the sport he dearly loves.

“I’ll definitely still be involved in rodeo. I don’t know about riding bulls again though.

“I’ll take the guidance of doctors, but this ain’t gonna stop me.”

A GoFundMe page has been launched to help the Schmidt family cover Riley’s medical bills.

Originally published as Riley Schmidt recovering after horror rodeo injury