Family mourns 19-year-old’s death after bull riding accident

By DEBBIE WORTHEN

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    ELK RIDGE, Utah (KSL) — An Elk Ridge family is mourning the loss of their 19-year-old son after he was killed during a bull-riding accident over the weekend.

They spoke to KSL and they’re sharing more about him and said he inspired them to live life to the fullest.

It was Saturday night when the Andersons got the call that their son, Tait, was heading to Utah Valley Hospital via medical helicopter. They say he lived to ride bulls, and if he could say something now he would tell others to “live your dream.”

“He kept us on our toes, there was never a dull moment,” said Roy Anderson.

And, the Andersons said Tait’s love for riding bulls started when he was 3 years old.

“He would ride the back of the couch, anything that he could think of, he was bull riding,” Roy Anderson said.

Tait was planning his next rodeo Saturday night when his passion turned deadly. Anderson got the call around 6 p.m. from one of Tait’s colleagues.

“They told us the bull had stepped on his sternum and get there as soon as possible,” Anderson said.

The Andersons knew the situation was dire. Their son was flown to Utah Valley Hospital.

“I think we were only there 40 minutes before we got the news he didn’t make it,” Andersons said.

Now, as Megan Anderson talks about him, she clutches his cross.

“He lived for bull riding. He lived, breathed, loved, it was his language; bull riding,” the couple said.

For the Andersons, they will miss his zest for life, his passion for rodeo and his enthusiasm that was contagious to everyone around.

“He just loved to play, and he loved to make people happy, that kid could have been a kid for life,” the couple said.

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