Bull rider Chris Littlejohn has always seemed to be in an uphill battle, whether it was overcoming nearly a ton of bucking beast or other adversities that come along the rodeo trail.
Now the four-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier is continuing his battle, albeit from the Missouri Rehabilitation Center in Mt. Vernon, Mo., while trying to recover from one of the most serious accidents of his long and storied career. Littlejohn severely bruised his spine at a bull-riding event June 20 in Odessa, Mo.
Doctors did surgery to fuse three vertebrae in Littlejohn’s neck. Though the injury produced some paralysis, the cowboy noted in mid-July that he has been taking steps through the rehabilitation process and has some feeling in his lower extremities.
“It just makes me sick just thinking about it,” said Fred Boettcher of Rice Lake, Wis., a six-time Wrangler NFR qualifier. “I owe a lot to that guy. He taught me everything I know as far as the rodeo business.”
He’s done that with a lot of young cowboys over his tenure in the business. Now he’s in need of some help of his own to cover the extreme medical costs that come with his injury. Like many who compete on livestock in an effort to make a living, Littlejohn doesn’t have much in the way of insurance.
So friends have banded together to create a fund that will be used for the tremendous costs of his recovery – one he hopes enables him to return to the sport he loves. While a permanent site is being established, a temporary address to send contributions is to the Chris Littlejohn Medical Fund, P.O. Box 663, Maryville, MO 64468.
“He was going to the NFR when a lot of us started our professional careers,” said Cord McCoy of Tupelo, Okla., an NFR qualifier who has competed in three Professional Bull Riders World Finals. “I bet some would agree with me that nobody knows more about bulls or the miles between events than him.”
In fact, some call him a bull encyclopedia, and that hasn’t changed in the nearly two decades he’s wrapped his riding arm to the back of a bucking bull.
“He worked harder than anybody else to make the finals,” said Mike Moore of Kankakee, Ill., a four-time NFR qualifier who finished third in the 2003 PRCA world standings. “If we were allowed to go to 125 rodeos, he went to 125 rodeos. He rodeo’d his tail off. And he knew just about every bull in the country.
“If you wanted to know something about a bull, he was the guy to call. He knew what that bull would do and what it had for supper the night before.”
Besides his three trips to the NFR, Littlejohn has also qualified for the Bull Riders Only finals and the Professional Championship Bullriding finale, which he’s done on two occasions.
Danell Tipton qualified for the NFR twice, the first time just five months after beginning his career in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association in June 1998. That summer, the Spencer, Okla., cowboy contacted the notable Littlejohn to see about the two traveling together.
“He’s the kind of guy that he just took me on,” said Tipton, 35. “He showed me the ropes and showed me how to enter and how to go. There are only eight or nine black men who have made it to the NFR, and he showed me what it would take.
“Just to qualify for the finals is a big deal. We were burning up the highways to get there, and we were getting on some bulls that would do some backward flips on us.”
Boettcher, who is in the middle of his Fourth of July run, has continued to pray for Littlejohn. Boettcher well knows the pitfalls that can sometimes overwhelm cowboys, much less those who live for the excitement of bull riding.
“When I met him in 1994, I was just 18 years old and didn’t know my head from anywhere else on my body,” said Boettcher, a 14-year pro. “He taught me that there’s more to bull riding and the rodeo business than just showing up to rodeos.
“He also knew so much. It’s just a history lesson every week. I learned my bookkeeping skills from him. Just like any other business, there are tricks to the trade. He taught me what worked for him, and I’ve adjusted it over time to make it work for me.”
Boettcher also knows he will do all he can to help out his longtime buddy.
“I think this is definitely something he can come out of,” Boettcher said. “There are people out there who have a lot of fond memories of him riding bulls, and maybe they can extend a hand to a guy who has given his life to rodeo.”
Any sort of word – whether it’s from other cowboys or fans or people who have just heard about the accident – is refreshing. Getting encouraging cards and letters along with those contributions really helps with the rehabilitation process.
“Those are everything,” said McCoy, who, in 2004, suffered a serious head injury during a rodeo in Oklahoma City, then returned to the arena in April 2005 and qualified for the NFR. “When faced with something like this, bull riding isn’t as important. The people standing behind you is all you have … that and all the prayers you receive. It’s all very powerful.”
