Family and friends are mourning the death of a beautiful 16-year-old girl who was killed while bull riding in a rodeo. INSIDE EDITION has the story.
It was a warning of disaster to come for rodeo girl Brooke Coats. A video that was shot just four weeks ago showed 16-year-old Coats in a brush with danger.
Before Coats even got out of the gate, she was thrown by the bull she was riding. She was nearly trampled by the bucking beast. Coats sprinted to get away from the bull while still wearing all of her saftey gear.
She didn't suffer any injuries, but her luck ran out on Friday at a different rodeo near Tampa, Florida. Coats died after being kicked in the chest by a bull that had just thrown her.
Coats's friends and fellow students at Riverview High School mourned her loss on Monday.
Controversy has long swirled over the perils faced by young rodeo riders. How young is too young to perform in rodeos?
INSIDE EDITION got a first-hand look at the dangers when we visited a rodeo in Colorado in 2003. Kids as young as five competed.
One 12-year-old girl was thrown from her horse and frantic relatives and had to be taken to the hospital on a stretcher. She later recovered.
Coats's death is a tragic reminder of the perils of bull riding.
