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PRICE — A 15-year-old was severely injured in a rodeo accident Friday evening and the community has rallied to show its support.
Lehi resident Garth Heap is a freshman at Rockwell High School, a charter school in Eagle Mountain, according to Rockwell executive director Darren Beck. Heap plays baseball for the high school and also recently joined the Lehi Longhorn Rodeo Team.
“Garth loves rodeo. He’s a rodeo kid,” Beck said. “He loves playing baseball, but rodeo is his first love.”
"He's loved horses his entire life and the outdoors and he was actually named after a cowboy, my grandfather," Natlie Gabel, Garth Heap's aunt said.
Heap competed in saddle bronc at a rodeo Friday around 6 p.m. at the Carbon County Fairgrounds when he was thrown from the horse and his foot got caught in the stirrup, according to Lehi Longhorn Rodeo Team secretary Kellie Jones.
“He got hung up in the saddle and (the horse) just kind of whipped him around and flipped him around and on the ground and then he got kicked and stepped on,” Jones said. “This was his third rodeo. “He had just signed up.”
He was transported to an area hospital, then airlifted to Primary Children’s Hospital in critical condition, Beck said. He said Heap is currently in a medically induced coma, and due to the swelling, he underwent surgery to have part of his skull removed.
Beck said Heap’s injury was a “slam” to the students at Rockwell High School as well as the community.
“He’s got a fun personality and sense of humor,” Beck said. “He’s never, ever really hurtful or derogatory to other kids. … He’s well known, well liked (by) teachers, students equally.”
Beck said the accident happened at the end of the school’s spring break, but when students found out they “inundated Primary Children’s Hospital with visits all weekend” to show their support for Heap.
Jones said when she went to visit Heap on Sunday, there were 30 to 40 people in the waiting room at the hospital.
“Everybody has completely rallied around him,” she said. “I’ve had several phone calls from all over the state. … There is a lot of outpouring of love and support for him and his family.”
"He's such a fighter we are so hopeful that he will fully recover and be the same crazy, funny garth that he was," Gabel said.
A GoFundMe account* was created to help the family pay for medical costs.
Contributing: Nicole Vowell
*KSL.com does not assure that the monies deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering a deposit to the account, you should consult your own advisors and otherwise proceed at your own risk.
