WEST, Texas (KWTX) – A West native is now in the hospital making a miraculous recovery after being trampled by a bucking bull while helping out at a rodeo over the weekend.

Austin Patterson grew up in rodeos and has always enjoyed bull riding, having done so for most of his life.

According to his fiancee Megan Shoonmaker, in 2019, Austin had a bull riding accident that broke his neck, ending his riding career.

“The doctors pretty much told him that if he got on a bull again and even the slightest mistake fell, it would cripple or kill him,” she explained.

But that hasn’t stopped him from being around what he loves…he now raises and trains bulls and helps other riders.

Sonny Barthold, a good friend of Austin’s in the bull riding community, says, “He’s one of those guys that always helps out at all of our events.”

Which he was doing last Saturday when things suddenly took a turn for the worse.

“We went over to look, but Austin, being Austin of course, you know, he saw that they were struggling to put a bull on the lead and they felt they had to jump, so he jumped and … he kind of went to south of there. ,” Shoonmaker shared.

Cody and Heather South have known Austin for years, sharing what he told them when they finally got to see him after the accident.

“He stepped and slid and the bull kind of ran over him, you know once you get under one, it’s hard to get out,” Cody South said.

Shoonmaker and another friend rushed him to the hospital, later learning that he had broken 5 ribs, his sternum and pelvis, a collapsed lung and a lacerated liver.

“Talking to Austin, you know he said he never felt like he was going to die before and he felt like he was that night, which is a really scary thought,” she recalled.

But thanks to his doctors and all the encouragement from family and friends, Austin made an incredible recovery.

Cody South said that “I had to go check on him and … I picked him up and got him going.” And once he’s out of the hospital, he’ll go straight to the altar.

According to Shoonmaker, “The first thing he told us in the ER when they wanted to move him to the ICU was that I can’t go there, I have a wedding on Saturday.”

However, Austin still has a long way to go, which is why Barthold decided to start the Austin Patterson Facebook Benefit Auction for bull breeders.

“He’s not going to be working as much as he used to and you know we want to keep his bills on track,” Barthold said, “We have such a strong group of people that … they’re ready, so that we are ready to help him”.

He says they’ve already raised over $60,000 and are now in their third and final round, which ends tomorrow night at eight o’clock.

You can click Here to go to his page. Barthold says they have 4 world champion bulls in the auction, including the “big bank” bull that was bred in the West by Pistol Robinson.

“I’ve told Sonny a couple of times, there really are no words to describe how thankful and grateful we are,” Austin’s fiancee and soon-to-be wife said.

There is also a Go finance me set up for Austin to support him while he focuses on recovery.

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