The Pacer

Issue date: 4/8/08 Section: Campus News

Timothy A. Chambers died Saturday at UTM's Ned McWherter Agricultural Complex, shown above in orange.

A commercial rodeo school student died Saturday after the bull he was riding threw him to the ground and trampled on his head and chest at the UT Martin Agriculture Pavilion, police said.

Timothy A. Chambers, 49, of New Market, Tenn., was participating in a three-day private rodeo class run by Sankey Rodeo School when he was thrown from the bull.

Witnesses said Chambers stood up after the accident, complained only of chest pain and was treated on the scene by an athletic trainer but stopped breathing en route to Volunteer Community Hospital in Martin, where he was pronounced dead by emergency room doctors.

Police said paramedics transported Chambers to the hospital by ambulance immediately after the accident and started CPR.

UTM athletics spokesman Joe Lofaro said Monday that the rodeo school rented the agriculture pavilion and that the accident was not caused by faulty equipment.

"(The school) is not anything the university is involved in," Lofaro said.

The Branson, Mo.-based Sankey Rodeo School has held weekend classes in Martin for several years without incident, owner Lyle Sankey told The Pacer.

"(The accident) didn't look dramatic, it didn't look that violent," Sankey said. "It's rodeo. It is what it is. Even though you're hand-picking the livestock — and we have the best protective gear available — there's just a certain amount of weight you can withstand."

Sankey said Chambers had successfully ridden bulls Friday and Saturday morning before the accident Saturday afternoon.

"Any time you deal with animals that big, stuff happens," Sankey said. "It's just a very violent sport."

Sankey said he's not concerned about liability because riders sign waivers and he calls himself an expert in safety, pointing to the many safety videos he's produced for professional rodeo riders.

"We have a pretty good reputation," he said.

A 22-year-old student in the Sankey Rodeo School was seriously injured by a bull and had to be airlifted to Nashville during a class in Martin in April 2004.

James Bret Embrey, of Iuka, Miss., suffered injuries to his mouth and nose and required emergency reconstructive surgery then, but he never lost consciousness.

Sankey said the class this weekend had about 45 students, and the course resumed after Chambers died.

The traveling school has come to Martin the week before the annual UTM Spring College Rodeo the past seven years.

Lofaro said the annual rodeo, which brings hundreds of visitors to the college town and is capped by citywide entertainment, will go on as planned April 10-12.

Chambers, a U.S. Army veteran, leaves behind a wife, Lori Hamilton Chambers; a daughter, Brittany Dreher of Knoxville; a son Justin Chambers of Maryville; and a father and stepmother, Robert Larry and Patricia Chambers of Tucson, Ariz.

Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m. at Mount Vale Church of God in New Market, about 20 miles northeast of Knoxville.

Chambers' funeral will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at the church.

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