Wyo cowboy Clay Ashurst recovering from ranch rodeo injury, fund and benefit established
While picking up bucking horses at the Eastern Wyoming Ranch Rodeo in Lusk, Wyoming, July 29, Clay Ashurst’s horse was knocked down by a bronc, knocking Clay unconscious on impact. Those at the rodeo grounds witnessed a helicopter pass overhead carrying Clay to a hospital in Casper, where he has been since. He has continually made slow, small progress and hasn’t fully awoke, but has responded to small instructions from doctors. Clay returned to breathing on his own Aug. 3, and even, with aid of physical therapy, sat at the edge of his bed and stood up, though his eyes remained closed. “People ask me how he is able to respond to verbal directions and even stand while still be essentially asleep…. I don’t know the answer to that other than the part of his brain that controls his ability to wake up seems to have sustained the biggest injury,” Clay’s wife Lexie said in a Facebook post. “But yet the amazing Dr. Warren told me I should be hopeful regarding that, when Saturday night he was very concerned.”
A Facebook page, Clay Ashurst Benefit Auction, has been established for their family and friends stretching from the very south border of Arizona, to the metropolis of Denver, to the quiet, dry plains of Wyoming, and everywhere in between and beyond to donate and bid upon items. The page is public and may be searched in order to “like” and participate. Logan Milligan, a friend who also participated in the Lusk ranch rodeo, has coordinated a Clay Ashurst Benefit Stray Gathering Sept. 1, at the Goshen County Fairgrounds in Torrington, Wyoming. The 50 slots to participate filled up in two days, however, the event is open to the public to watch. Clay, his wife Lexie, and their sons Miles and Grant have lived at and worked for Four Three Land and Cattle, north of Lusk, Wyoming, for five years. Clay has participated in several top hand competitions in addition to many ranch rodeos. With Clay as the captain, his team qualified for WRCA finals in Amarillo, Texas, this November, as well as the Wyoming State Fair Ranch Rodeo, and the NILE Ranch Rodeo in Billings, Montana.
Read about one of Clay’s using horses here.
