Menu
Local youth dies in freak rodeo accident
A 19-year-old Mountain Home man was killed in an unusual and tragic accident while riding a bull at the Caribou County Rodeo in the small southeastern Idaho community of Grace Saturday night, Aug. 6.
Daniel Dopps, the son of Dave and Ramona Dopps of Mountain Home, died when the 1800-pound bull he was riding slipped, dug its horn in the ground, and then flipped over head first on top of him.
His parents, who had closely followed his rodeo career, had attended the rodeo to cheer him on and his father was on of the first to rush to his side as he lay in the arena.
"He loved rodeo," his parents said. "He was doing what he loved. This was his love and passion in life."
Dopps, a 2004 graduate of Mountain Home High School, had been a star of the high school rodeo team, had qualified and ridden in the national high school rodeo finals in 2001 and 2003, and had dreamed of making a career of being a full-time professional rodeo cowboy. "He was living it," Dave Dopps said.
"He was well on his way. He lived his dream on Friday night," riding the PBR (Professional
Bull Riders) Reserve Champion Bull, Crossfire Hurricane.
"He stayed on that bull as long as any world champion did. He knew (when he got on it) that he belonged with those guys (the professional bull riders)."
"We don't want anyone to be turned off on bull riding. It was just a freak accident," his father said.
Dopps died during the last night of the rodeo. Ranked 20th in the Wilderness Circuit standings, he was wearing a protective helmet and vest as required. Performers at the show did not learn of his death until after the show had ended, a little later that evening. Bull riding is usually the last event during a rodeo.
Some of the performers and observers at the Saturday night rodeo said they had never seen a bull somersault. They said the bull lost its footing after it ducked its head and threw its hind feet up for a kick. "I've never seen that happen before," said Keith Rigby, a member of the Caribou County Fair Board. "It's really unusual.
"While it is a high risk sport, the riders live for it. They guys all say they want the sport to keep going, even if something happened to them. They all love it.
"It's really sad," Rigby said, noting it was the first fatality in the 57 years that the rodeo has been held in Grace, a town near Soda Springs southeast of Pocatello.
Rodeo cowboys often are injured while performing, but deaths are rare in the sport. Dopps was nevertheless the second rodeo cowboy to die this year from injuries sustained during a show.
Along with his father, EMS personnel and Brett Smith, a physician's assistant, immediately rushed into the arena after the accident and began working on Dopps, but he was unconcious and not displaying any significant life signs at the time. Dopps was taken by ambulance to Caribou Memorial Hospital and then lifeflighted to Eastern Idaho Medical Center in Idaho Falls, where he was pronounced dead.
His parents granted permission for his organs to be donated. They noted with grieving pride that at least seven other individuals already had received vital organs from their son, allowing those recipients to live longer, better lives.
The couple returned to Mountain Home Monday and began making arrangements for their son's funeral.
A visitation will be held today, Wednesday, Aug. 10, from 3-5 p.m. at Summers Funeral Homes, McMurtrey Chapel, in Mountain Home, and funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at the LDS Stake Center, 1150 N. 8th East St., in Mountain Home, with burial to follow at Mountain View Cemetary. A reception will be held afterwards at the church.
A benefit fund was being set up to help the family with funeral expenses at U.S. Bank in the name of Daniel Dopps.
Caribou County Sheriff Ray Van Vleet thanked all those who had helped in their efforts to treat the young bull rider, adding that "the sheriff's office, EMS, the county commissioners and the Caribou County Fair Board all send our condolences to the family and friends of Mr. Dopps."