Koben Pucket Invitational
- About
After the result of a life-changing injury at a PBR Classic, Koben Puckett’s life went down a path that he had never imagined. He has since been on the path of pursuing recovery from a devastating spinal cord injury. View complete story below.
Starting in 2014, he hosts an annual PBR event in Amarillo, Texas. This event raises funds for the Press On Foundation, which gives scholarships to attend specialized spinal cord injury recovery therapy in Austin, Texas for individuals that are pursuing recovery from this type of injury.
- History
- Koben started riding steers at age 10, later graduated to junior bulls and then High School rodeos, winning various awards and championships all along the way. By age 16, Koben had begun competing against adults in amateur and open bull-riding competitions. Even better, he was winning. “As soon as I turned 18, I knew what I wanted to do,” he says. He wanted to compete in the PBR World Finals in Las Vegas. "So I hit the road. I was fortunate to have traveled with some great guys who have become life long friends. I was also fortunate to get to travel and see many new places. I learned a lot from it all." But on September 6, 2008 in Mesquite, TX life as he knew it was changed. "Everything came to a stop" as he said, that night at a PBR classic event he was thrown from the bull near the eight-second whistle and, landing on his head, he sustained a broken neck at C5-6. He was then stepped on by the bull causing other injuries such as broken ribs, fractured lower back and a punctured lung. He was rushed to the ICU. Within hours, Koben was intubated and on a ventilator, the victim of a devastating spinal cord injury. Over the course of eight seconds, he had gone from an up-and-coming cowboy who sat atop bucking bulls to a quadriplegic confined to a power wheelchair. Make that a temporary quadriplegic. Because Koben Puckett doesn’t intend to stay this way.
- Additional Info
- Early entry at 5:00 pm, gates open at 6:00 pm
- Places to Stay