Rodeo star Spencer Wright’s three-year-old son is brain dead after driving a toy tractor into the Utah River

US News

From Patrick Reilly

A rodeo star’s 3-year-old son is brain dead after driving a toy tractor into a Utah river earlier this week, his heartbroken family announced.

Levi Wright, the son of world-renowned cowboy Spencer Wright, was taken to a Salt Lake City hospital in critical condition after he was pulled from the river by rescue workers around 6 p.m. Tuesday evening in Beaver County, ABC4 reported.

Although the family had hoped for the best, Mindy Sue Clark, a spokeswoman for the Wright family, said the boy was not expected to survive.

“Levi’s heart beats on its own, he has the will to breathe, but his sweet little brain has been without oxygen for too long and there is no going back,” the boy’s parents said in a tragic update Clark posted on Facebook

“We cuddled him all night and feel his spirit is no longer with us,” the post continued. “We can’t be selfish and drag this out for days, he doesn’t deserve that. We will soon stop caring for him and hold him in our arms until his last breath on earth.”

“My baby, my beans, mommy and daddy love you always and forever!” said the parents.

Clark later told ABC4 that the Wrights were still hoping for signs that Levi might survive. The family has received so much support from the rodeo community and it “means the world to them,” she said.

Spencer Wright, 33, was ranked 35th in the world by ProRodeo in 2023 and comes from a family of renowned cowboys

Spencer Wright’s father, Bill Wright, is a ProRodeo Hall of Famer, and most of his siblings are experienced riders who compete in events across the country, according to ABC4.

The family was the subject of the book “The Last Cowboys” and appeared in an episode of “60 Minutes.”

Earlier this year, Spencer Wright won the Rio Grande Valley Livestock Show and Rodeo in Mercedes, Texas.

“The hearts of the entire ProRodeo community ache for the Wright family,” PRCA CEO Tom Glause said in a statement. “We will continue to keep them in our thoughts and prayers.”