By: Kendra Santos
The rodeo family is for real, and we all fall into #AllForRodeo mode fast when one of our own needs us. Since a scary ATV accident Monday evening, the family of Texas timed-event cowboy Brother Loud has been physically, emotionally and financially tested. Brother and wife Kasie’s baby boy—popular champion junior bull rider Kam—suffered serious injuries in the wreck. As 12-year-old Kam is wheeled into a second surgery today, with a third already scheduled for next week, it’s already obvious that Kam and his fam have a long, exhausting road to recovery ahead. It’s also loud and clear that our rodeo family is rallying behind our people in every possible way.
“Kam (which is short for Kameron) and his big brother, Kaiden (who’s 15), were on ATVs and were on their way to spend the night with a friend,” Brother said. “Kaiden was right behind Kam, so he saw the whole thing happen. Kam hit a hole, and his ATV started swerving left to right. Kam overcorrected, and flipped it. The ATV came down on Kam and drug him, and all the glass cut him really bad. It happened right up the road from our house.”
While Kaiden tended to Kam, one of their buddies raced back to the house to get Brother and Kasie. They jumped in their truck, and when they got there a few minutes later found Kaiden trotted toward the house with his little brother in his arms.
“Kam’s ear was gone on the left side of his head, and it was torn so wide open that we could see his skull,” said Brother, who’s a World Champions Rodeo Alliance (WCRA) and Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) team roper, bulldogger and hazer. “Both of Kam’s arms were cut wide open and both of his kneecaps were torn wide open from the glass. They’ll have to do a skin graft on Kam’s arms and his whole back, because there’s no skin left.
“We put Kam in the truck and took him to the hospital in Kaufman (Texas, where the Louds live). They were waiting on us, and care-flighted him to Children’s Medical Center in Dallas as soon as we got there. They took Cam into surgery at 5 Tuesday morning, and they spent about five hours getting him cleaned up and putting him back together with stitches and staples. His second surgery is this (Friday) morning. They plan to clean him up some more and start seeing what they can do about the skin grafts on his arms. When they take Kam into the operating room, all the doctors go in there ready to go to work, so they can all do everything they can for him while he’s under anesthesia.”
Due to recent coronavirus restrictions, only one parent is allowed at Kam’s bedside at a time. So Brother, who trains a lot of timed-event horses for rodeo people, and Kasie, who’s a hairdresser, take turns.
“Kam has not cried—not one time—since the wreck happened, and he’s in pretty tough shape,” Brother said. “Oh, actually, I take that back. When he asked his mom about a junior bull riding that’s coming up, and if he’ll be OK by then to go and she said no, that’s the only time he cried.”
Brother is a two-time Texas Circuit Finals bulldogger who set the 3.4-second steer wrestling arena record—which broke Robert House’s 1960 record of 3.6—at the West of the Pecos Rodeo in his native Lone Star State when Brother won it in 2018. With 7.5 seconds on two steers, former bull rider Loud also set the Pecos average record that still stands.
Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and WCRA steer wrestler Bill Pace, as well as his NFR barrel racer and WCRA champ girlfriend Cheyenne Wimberley, are close friends with the Loud family. Brother and Bill are partners in the horse business, and practice bulldogging together. One of Loud’s recent cowboy clients was World Champion Steer Wrestler Tyler Pearson, who sent Brother a wild-spotted Appaloosa horse he calls Dippin Dots to ride before Pearson started roping on him.
“Brother’s one of the best friends I have, and we talk every day,” Pace said. “We’ve been friends and partners on horses for 15 years now. Brother’s one of the best all-around cowboys I’ve ever seen, and he’s a really good horseman. He’s trained a lot of good horses. He’s also hazed for me a lot. Brother’s the kind of guy that sent me his best horse when my bulldogging horse got hurt, no questions asked.
“Brother’s boys don’t sit in front of a TV or play video games. To sum up Kam, he’s all boy and a great little athlete. One of the first times I saw him, he was out fishing at the pond barefooted in his tighty whities. Those kids play football, baseball and basketball, and they’ve had a lot of success already riding bulls. The Louds do everything as a family, whether it’s hunting, fishing or sports, including rodeo. And that Kam just has such an infectious smile.”
Brother’s also ridden some young horses for Wimberley, who struck it rich at the 2019 Windy City Roundup in Chicago, which was a $1 million WCRA major.
“Brother’s a great all-around hand,” Cheyenne said. “He sometimes does (cowboy) day work on my 3-year-olds, and ropes on them and puts a handle on them. He recently moved one of my Streak of Fling horses over onto the bulldogging side. Sometimes, you just have to find a horse’s (best) event instead of making him do what you have in mind.
“Kam and Kaiden, those kids are cowboys. They’re amazing athletes, and they’ve been raised cowboy by Brother and Kasie, who runs barrels. They’re both junior bull riding champions, and they’ve already won a lot. They can really ride. They’re both great kids, and you can always find them hanging around back behind the chutes. They’re just good, friendly, raised-right kids. And Kam is everybody’s buddy. The Louds’ house is where all the kids want to hang out, and every time I see Brother, there are several other boys with them. They take people in all the time. They really are a great family. They’d do anything for anybody.”
Now it’s our rodeo family’s turn. A GoFundMe account has been set up to help the Loud family with what will be astronomical medical bills. To donate, click HERE.
“It’s going to be a long haul for Kam and our family,” Brother Loud said. “But I know Kam, and he’ll do whatever it takes to get through this so he can get back to doing what he loves, and that’s riding bulls. He plays a lot of sports. And Kam can do backflips all day long. But bull riding is his thing. Kam’s the kid everybody picks to be a PBR cowboy when he grows up.”
Hall of Fame Bull Rider Tuff Hedeman is as tough as they come. And he loves kids.
“I was always a guy who would not take no for an answer,” Tuff said. “From what I hear, Kam Loud is the same kind of kid. I’m sure sorry to hear about this setback, but we’re all pulling for him. And he’ll be back, because he won’t take no for an answer. When you’re a bull rider, the whistle cures all ills. The hard work it’s going to take to get back to winning won’t be easy. But it’ll be worth it.”
