Chance Butterfield Continues To Win Just One Year After Near-Death Injury

Just less than a year ago, Chance Butterfield was in a hospital undergoing surgery that would save his life. At the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede this weekend, his 4.3-second is in the money and could help him to another Canadian Finals Rodeo.

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On August 1 of 2017, Chance Butterfield was rushed to the hospital with severe internal injuries after his horse panicked during the fireworks at a northern Alberta rodeo and kicked Butterfield in the chest with both feet. Butterfield was having the best rodeo season of his career one moment, and the next he was losing blood and battling for his life as he underwent trauma surgery.

“We were just kind of hanging out and some fireworks went off,” said Butterfield. “A loose horse came by and ran into the side of my mare; I managed to get in between them which was a mistake. I got him chased off the first time and then he came back and she went to kick him, got me in the chest.”

An ambulance arrived and took Butterfield to the nearby hospital, where he was stabilized before being airlifted to the Grande Prairie hospital where he underwent surgery that would save his life.

“They kind of defied the odds there, no doubt about it, I probably shouldn’t be here today,” said Butterfield. 

Luckily, this cowboy is married to a physiotherapist, who immediately began helping him on his uphill battle to become healthy enough to compete again. After months of hard physio, Butterfield had his first practice session 79 days post-surgery, just four weeks before the biggest event of his career.

“Day one out of surgery—I mean, [I have a ] huge scar, they opened me wide up from side to side—and she had me up and walking there that evening and we walked day after day until they let me out of the ICU.”

You might wonder why someone would push themselves so hard, so quickly after an injury like that. Well—before he was injured—Butterfield had earned enough money to qualify for his very first Canadian Finals Rodeo. So the first time he nodded his head at a rodeo again would not only be at Canada’s pinnacle rodeo event, but the biggest event of his career.

It would be hard not to be nervous to take that first steer, but Butterfield prevailed by placing third that night, and continued to make good runs during the six-round finals, just months after he nearly lost his life. 

Fast forward to the 2018 season and Butterfield says he had his “typical” start to the season with a little bit of barrier trouble. But he’s been on a roll lately, continuing to consistently place at CPRA rodeos and has a fighting chance to make it back to his second CFR. 

If his 4.3-second run from last night at the Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede can hold for a big check, those chances will only continue to increase. With the Canadian Standings' most recent update today, Butterfield sits in the No. 17 spot and less than $1,000 out of the twelfth place spot.

But the cowboy that had come close to qualifying many times before he made his first CFR won’t count himself qualified for his second until it becomes a reality. 

“I’ve been inside [the top 12 before], I’ll probably feel better when they actually give me a back number,” said Butterfield. “I’ll just wait until that happens.”