“Life is there to be lived so you might as well live the bugger!”
The wise words of Sam. A country boy who has been through a lot in his 33 years but sees every challenge as an opportunity to start a new adventure.
Sam started bull riding at 12 years old, and by the time he was in his twenties he was ranked in the top 40 bull riders in the world. The sport took him all over the world; America, Canada, Brazil, and taught him strength and resilience.
Bull riding changed Sam’s life in more ways than creating a champion. The sport that was his biggest passion and life’s work, is the same sport that resulted in Sam’s physical disability.
“It was a bad day in the office – it’s not ping pong so when something goes wrong it goes really wrong. I broke three vertebrates, crushed the spinal cord and everything. So that was the end of that adventure and the start of a new adventure.”
Sam spent the next three years working on his rehabilitation in Brisbane – a long way away from his community and the comfort of his hometown, but vital for his future.
After a long and expensive rehabilitation journey, Sam returned to his community with the intention of, more or less, picking up where he left off. But Sam was faced with another life altering situation.
A relationship break-up left Sam unemployed and homeless. His newly acquired disability adding to the difficulty of finding a new home and a new job in his rural town.
“I was out on my own there for a bit…I didn’t really know where I wanted to live or what I wanted to do.”
While Sam will never walk again, his intense rehabilitation and sheer determination have resulted in him being able to do pretty much everything else! So, it wasn’t long before Sam had a plan. He purchased a caravan with the last of his savings, which became his home for the time being. But it wasn’t quite right for his accessibility needs. There was about $10,000 worth of renovations needed.
That’s where Youngcare’s Home Support Grant came into play. Thanks to the generosity of Youngcare supporters, Sam was able to renovate his caravan and use it as his mobile home.
The accessible caravan has been vital for Sam to maintain his independence, career, youth, and mental health. Sam quickly secured work, a job that takes him all over outback Queensland; country towns that have no accessible accommodation options for someone who uses a wheelchair.
“The accessibility is not flash around here. So that’s where the caravan comes into play.
I don’t ever have to worry about accommodation, worrying about what is going to be accessible for me, I’ve always got something accessible right there.”
Unsurprisingly, a couple of years on, Sam is kicking goal after goal! He owns a very successful fencing business with the apt name ‘Roll out Contracting’ and is giving back to his community.
Astoundingly, Sam says he feels lucky he acquired his disability doing something that he loves, and rather than shying away from the sport that created so many physical challenges for him, he has embraced bull riding in a new way.
Every year Sam and his brother put on a rodeo at the Atherton Tablelands – ‘The Big Pub Malanda Bull Ride’ – a not-for-profit event and fully accessible for spectators. Sam donates the funds back into the community that gave him so much over the years. His caravan has enabled him to easily travel back and forth for the rodeo and have somewhere accessible to set up camp!
“I run a bull ride every year with my brother, it is not for profit. We just run it to give something back to the town every year.”
It may seem like a simple and small contribution, but the Grant from Youngcare to renovate his caravan was truly the head-start Sam needed to start his ‘new adventure’. Sam says Youngcare supporters really change lives, and he is forever grateful for that:
“Thank you. Youngcare helped me set up my life to go forward and keep living. I’d like to say to the people who are out there donating or who are interested in donating – don’t look back, because you can change someone else’s life to make it better. It can help them live a normal life just like everyone else.”
