PALMETTO, Fla. — A Louisiana bull rider survived a near-fatal accident at the Manatee County Fairgrounds last week.
Zachary Naegele, 24, was competing in the Conley Invitational Bull Ride in Palmetto on February 7. Seconds into the ride, cell phone video captured the bull's horn piercing his neck under his helmet.
"It was a freak accident where he hit me at the right spot with the right amount of force. It just went in my neck," said Naegele.
Members of Manatee County Search and Rescue were on standby at the fairgrounds. Paramedic Max Pollock, Rescue Technician Hal Robinson, and Nurse Practitioner Sharon Litschauer jumped into action to stop the bleeding. North River Fire and Manatee County EMS also assisted.
Naegele was transported to a hospital in Bradenton, where he had surgery.
"That’s just when I started praying. I was like, God, just give me one more breath, one more breath. I said that for about ten minutes until we finally pulled up there at the hospital. They unloaded me and immediately jumped into action," he said.
Naegele is recovering back home in Louisiana.
"Doctors told me I'm very lucky to be alive, to even be walking and talking as fast as I am because I lost a lot of blood," he said.
A GoFundMe page is raising money for the 24-year-old to help pay for medical bills and other bills.
"Friends, family, the community, everybody coming together and supporting me and actually donating to that GoFundMe has truly helped me out with hospital bills and my own house bills and stuff," he said.
"The paramedics and God, that's the only reason I'm still breathing," he said.
Naegele has been bull riding since he was 15 and said he said he plans to continue once he makes a full recovery.
"I'm not a drag on the system."
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