Rodeo gets rough, rider injured. WHOO HOOO!

August 25, 2008

Maybe he's smarter now - they can't get any more retarded. Too bad it didn't stick.

Francisco Regalado said he left a hospital Sunday night with only bruises and six stitches in his neck after more than 2,500 rodeo spectators watched his head slam into a metal fence as he straddled a bucking bull.

Bull rider Francisco Regalado was rushed to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital Sunday night . But he was released and walking around having suffered bruising and a laceration at the back of his neck.

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Bull rider knocked out

Regalado’s limp body was tossed to the ground in a gruesome scene at the Sonoma County Fair’s Mexican Rodeo about 7:30 p.m., and he was rushed to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital.

“My head hurts,” he said Monday morning in Spanish.

Despite what Regalado described as a lack of serious injuries, things didn’t get better Monday.

On his way to a fairgrounds interview with The Press Democrat, the California Highway Patrol stopped him about 5:30 p.m. for an expired car registration and took him into custody, authorities said.

CHP Officer Mike Keeton said Regalado has convictions in Marin County for drunken driving and driving without a license and insurance, and when he missed court dates there, two arrest warrants were issued in April 2007.

Regalado was handcuffed at an entrance to the fairgrounds and taken to Sonoma County Jail. He was cited and released on a promise to appear after jail personnel determined his medical condition posed a liability, Keeton said.

“Obviously, he had a spinal problem. He might need surgery on his neck,” Keeton said.

Regalado could not be reached for comment late Monday.

Memorial Hospital spokeswoman Katy Hillenmeyer confirmed Regalado was released Sunday, but because of patient confidentiality rules, she could not disclose details of his condition.

Originally a Guatemalan factory worker, Regalado has been riding with the California-based Mexican Rodeo Jaripeo de Lujo for three months.

He is known among Mexican rodeo fans as “el canguro” or “the kangaroo” because he rides with hands in the air while his legs hold an iron-clad grip around the bull.

Nearly a minute after mounting the bull Sunday, rodeo hands were at Regalado’s side, administering help as he lay unconscious in the rodeo ring..

He was stabilized with a neck brace and transported to a nearby ambulance.

“If you have 30,000 people in one spot, the chance of a medical emergency is very great,” said fair spokeswoman Marlina Harrison, explaining the fair has onsite paramedics, ambulance and first-aid station.

Unlike American rodeos, Mexican rodeos do not have a set time limit for bull rides. American riders aim to stay on their bulls for eight seconds; in Mexican rodeos, riders try to stay on for as long as possible.

The Mexican rodeo is an annual tradition at the fair, but this year’s event featured less pageantry and fewer performances than in previous years. Instead, Sunday’s rodeo focused almost entirely on bull riding.

Jaripeo de Lujo’s next appearance is at the Napa County Fair on Aug. 8.