THE cliche “eight seconds of glory or a lifetime of pain” could have been written for any up-and-coming young talent like Tamworth bullrider Jordan Lane-Robb.
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This time last year the young cowboy would be seen around the rodeo circuits hurling his hat into the air after riding time on one of the district’s notorious bucking bulls.
But his dream of a lifetime was cut short while riding Road Bomb at Armidale Rodeo on November 15 last year.
“He came out and did a couple of bucks into the air and I landed on my head,” the teenager said.
The then 18-year-old sustained breakages to the C4 and C5 vertebrae in his neck, prompting 10 months of treatment and rehab in Sydney before placing him in a wheelchair.
“The C4 joint was squashing my spinal cord,” Lane-Robb said.
The former Coonamble cowboy though is now living in Tamworth where he receives the required treatment.
“There weren’t any facilities out there (Coonamble).
“And all my mates are in Tamworth anyway,” he joked.
But it’s not all doom and gloom for the popular young rider.
Earlier this month he was ringside with many of his mates watching his bullriding cousins being flung in the air, thown to the ground, or riding to the buzzer on some of the country‘s most notorious bulls at the packed Australian Equine & Livestock Event Centre arena for the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Tamworth Invitational.
“It was all right – a couple of pretty good rides,” he said.
“My mates are good to me. They take me to rodeos and visit a fair bit.”
Though his one big interest at present – besides attending a bullride at regional rodeos – is caring for his young bucking bull, which he tends to daily.
“He’ll be contracted one day but he’s in the paddock at the moment,” he said.
