By Andy Taylor

TYRO — More than four months after surviving a freak mishap at a rural Tyro steer roping arena, Andy Smallwood is fully on the mend . . . and already back in the saddle.

The rural Tyro teenager is a living, walking miracle — proof that patience, prayer and persistence can mend a crushed body and have it fully healed in time for a national team roping competition to be held in two weeks.

Here’s his story . . .

On the afternoon of June 4, Smallwood and several other steer roping friends were at a rural Tyro steer roping arena, practicing their techniques in preparation for the summer team roping season.
Smallwood sat atop Poncho, a horse that belonged to roping friend Chance Brake.

“Everybody has ridden Poncho,” said Smallwood. “If you have done any steer roping in this area, you know Poncho. He’s trained a lot of team ropers in the area.”

Smallwood and Poncho busted through the gate with a frantic steer kicking up dust. Smallwood was the lead roper, also called the header, and flung his lasso around the neck of the steer.

The rope tightened.

Poncho, by his years of training, was to react by begin pulling back, thereby pulling the rope — and the steer — tighter while the secondary roper, known as the heeler, throws a rope around the steer’s bag legs.

However, Poncho never reacted.

The horse, believed to be beyond 20 years of age, suffered a massive and fatal heart attack as soon as the steer tightened its hold on the rope. The momentum of Poncho’s forward motion caused the horse’s body to do a total flip.

And, caught underneath the weight of the one-half ton horse was Andy Smallwood, whose lean body is only about 1/10th of the weight of his mount.

The horse’s weight crushed Smallwood immediately. Seeing that the horse was unable to move — and later learning that it died — a group of friends and onlookers rushed to the middle of the arena to push the dead horse off Smallwood’s body.

“I went out like a light,” said Smallwood, now able to laugh at the traumatic force of being crushed by a large animal. “But, when I woke up, my body hurt a lot. Everyone was telling me not to move. It was pretty scary.”

Smallwood suffered a broken collarbone, multiple broken ribs, a busted spleen, and punctured lungs.
An ambulance was immediately summoned. EMTs quickly stabilized his vital signs and transported the Tyro teenager to Coffeyville Regional Medical Center. At CRMC, doctors saw the extent of Smallwood’s life-threatening injuries and transported him to a Tulsa medical center.

Most traumatic injuries would require transportation to a major trauma center via medical helicopter. However, such a ride would likely kill Smallwood. That’s because Smallwood’s punctured lungs would not sustain the challenges of altitude changes aboard a medical helicopter.

So, Smallwood was taken to Tulsa by an ambulance.

Kelly Smallwood, Andy’s father, said doctors were initially concerned about the extent of injuries to Smallwood’s internal organs. Andy was placed in an intensive care unit, where medical staff kept a 24-hour vigil for four days to monitor his injuries.

Ironically, his medical treatment did not require surgery . . . just lots of medical attention by a trauma staff.

“We had a trauma nurse in his hospital room for two full days and nights,” said Kelly. “We were really concerned about internal bleeding and internal injuries. We were also worried about his lung capacity. After all, he had two punctured lungs.”

While the Smallwood family stayed with their son at the Tulsa medical center, friends and other family members in Montgomery County were conducting prayer vigils. Team ropers, members of the Cowboy Christian Ministries in Caney (where Andy and his parents attend), Tyro Christian Church, school friends and even total strangers were praying for Andy’s recovery.

Perhaps those prayers for divine intervention were the cause for a miraculous recovery.

After seven full days in the Tulsa medical center (four in the intensive care unit and three days in a pediatric care unit), Smallwood was allowed to return home — albeit cautioned to let his body slowly mend and heal itself.

“It really was a miracle,” said Tamara, Andy’s mother. “We really believe those prayers helped Andy heal quickly.”

While doctors said Andy was lucky that his injuries weren’t more severe, they cautioned the teenager to stay at home. This meant that Smallwood would be unable to attend a national team roping competition with roping teammate Tylen Layton in New Mexico in August.

“When the doctors told him he couldn’t rope at nationals, it broke his heart,” said Tamara. “He cried all the way from the Tulsa hospital to Tyro.”

With hopes of a national competition now gone, a wounded Smallwood focused on getting his body back to normal. That proved to be a tough task for Smallwood, who faunched and fidgeted at the prospects of roping by the end of summer.

“It was tough,” said Andy. “All I wanted to do was get back in the saddle.”

For Kelly Smallwood, watching Andy sit out the summer team roping season tested his son’s mettle.
“He was driving us crazy,” Kelly said. “My wife and I kept telling him that he couldn’t get back on a horse until a doctor told him it was safe to do so.”

On Aug. 1, the junior Smallwood got the doctor’s approval to return to the roping arena.
And, it could not have come at a better time.

Andy Smallwood is back in the team roping arena, joining his dad as they prepare for the U.S. Team Roping Finals to be held in Oklahoma City, Okla., in two weeks. Andy said his first attempt at climbing back into the rodeo arena during a recent practice was a memorable experience.

“I was ready to rope,” said Smallwood. “I was glad to get back.”