Family mourns death of 19-year-old 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 who died in a bull riding accident over the weekend.

They spoke to KSL and shared more about him, saying he inspired them to live life to the fullest.

It was Saturday evening when the Andersons got the call that their son Tait would be flying to Utah Valley Hospital in a medical helicopter. They say he lived to ride bulls, and if he could say anything now, he would tell others: “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 of bull riding began when he was three years old.

“He was riding the back of the couch, whatever he could think of, he was bull riding,” Roy Anderson said.

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

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

The Andersons knew the situation was serious. Her son was flown to Utah Valley Hospital.

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

As Megan Anderson speaks about him now, she clutches his cross.

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

The Andersons will miss his joy of life, his passion for rodeo and his enthusiasm that infected everyone around him.

“He just loved to play and he loved making people happy. This child could have been a child for life,” the couple said.

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