VALEMOUNT, B.C. - Spectators watched in horror as a teenaged bull rider was bucked off and stomped on by a bull at a rodeo event in Valemount, B.C.
The 18-year-old man was taken to the local health unit late Friday night, but died shortly afterwards of his injuries.
RCMP Cpl. Annie Linteau said the family wanted the public to know the young man's name -- Makwala Derickson-Hall -- and that he was a member of the Okanagan First Nation.
"A very, very tragic incident," Linteau said.
Derickson-Hall appeared to be an up-and-coming rodeo star.
According to a Peachland Riding Club bulletin, he had recently qualified to take part in bull riding in one of the biggest rodeos in the world, the High School Finals Rodeo in Gillette, Wyoming.
That rodeo is to be held from July 18 to 24.
Linteau said the Canoe Mountain Rodeo where the young man was killed is an annual event.
The teen died on the first day of the three-day rodeo in Valemount, which is about 80 kilometres from the B.C., Alberta boundary and south of Prince George
"About 200 watched," she said. "It must have been a horrible thing to watch."
Linteau said police were alerted, but they won't be investigating the death because it isn't suspicious.
Instead, the investigation has been turned over to the B.C. Coroners Service.
