ABILENE, Texas – A bronc rider was killed over the weekend after getting bucked off a horse at a rodeo in West Texas.
The West Texas Fair & Rodeo in Abilene said Skee Burkes died on Saturday during a Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association/United Professional Rodeo Association event.
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Burkes, who lived in Lubbock, was 26.
KRBC-TV in Abilene reported that Burkes was bucked off a horse during ranch bronc riding. Paramedics were already at the arena and responded quickly, but Burkes was later pronounced dead, KRBC reported.
In a statement, rodeo officials called it a “tragic accident.”
“The West Texas Fair & Rodeo and Expo Center Board of Directors would like to extend our deepest condolences to Burkes’ family,” the statement reads. “Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved - rodeo competitors, fans and spectators, and officials who were in the arena that night.”
Dee Ann Littlefield, Burkes’ mother, also released a statement, calling her son “the most talented, hilariously funny, artistic, musical, retro package I have ever known.”
Littlefield added that Burkes worked as a supervisor in the oilfield and was planning on opening his own leather shop.
His obituary states he was involved in 4-H, the North Texas High School Rodeo, the American Quarter Horse Association and the National Reined Cow Horse Association. He was also a sculptor and musician.
The rodeo is holding a fundraiser to help his family with funeral costs.