Bull rider inspiring others while returning to ride just months after being gored in the neck

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB/Gray News) - It’s been three months since Louisiana native Zach Naegele experienced firsthand just how dangerous rodeo riding could be.

It was a ride that nearly killed him, sending him on a downward spiral.

“The first month was extremely hard,” Naegele said. “I fell into depression, couldn’t eat, got extremely skinny, just not talking to anybody. Just staying at the house. It was not a good feeling.”

Naegele, who has been riding bulls for nearly a decade, said this most serious injury happened on Feb. 7 at the Conley Invitational in Palmetto, Florida.

Something that happened in just seconds.

”I came out, the bull started bucking. He was a little bit flat and when he backed up under himself, he pulled me over his head," Naegele said

The bull gored him in the neck. First responders ended up plugging a six-inch gash.

Naegele said he lost lots of blood and is lucky to be alive after going through multiple surgeries and having a brush with death.

His scar eventually started to heal and so did his mindset.

“Life is gonna keep on going no matter what,” Naegele said. “If you sit around and feel sorry for yourself, you’re just wasting time at the end of the day.”

Luckily, Naegele’s story did not end in a hospital bed. He’s back to full strength and almost completely healed.

The 24-year-old made it back on a bull this week for the first time since his accident. And he did it alongside his friends who are as close to him as a fly on a bull’s back.

“Inviting these guys out here and letting them see me ride for the first time, it felt really good,” Naegele said. “I didn’t want a huge crowd because, like I said, it was a huge obstacle that I overcame.”

“To be able to witness that it’s awesome, man,” Naegele’s good friend Tre Stewart said. “It just makes your heart happy, your soul happy, you know.”

Naegele says this journey has had many ups and downs, but he’s thankful to be alive and to be an inspiration to others.

“A lot of people have reached out and said I was a great inspiration to them,” Naegele said. “To actually help other people is a way better feeling because now they’re able to exceed what they believed at first.”

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