Rodeo cowboy Frank Koloski, the founder and co-owner of Rodeo Alaska, was promoting and participating in the Alaska Sales & Service Bear Paw Rodeo Round-Up on Saturday when his abdomen was punctured with a steer horn, according to The Associated Press.
"I have a nice little hole in me," Koloski said Monday from his hospital bed, the AP reported.
Originally from St. Cloud, Florida, Koloski's specialty is "double mugging," an event in which one cowboy on a horse ropes a steer while another on foot tries to wrestle the animal to the ground, the Anchorage Daily News reported, according to the AP. Koloski was the cowboy on foot that Saturday night.
"It was just pretty wild," Koloski said, the AP reported. "When I went to take him down, I felt him hit me."n
He also saw blood on his shirt after the bull's horn had punctured him below his stomach and pushed in about 4 ½ inches, he said, according to the AP. He tried to "kind of trot" out of the arena but got lightheaded and fell, calling it "embarrassing."
He took a ride to Providence Alaska Medical Center for surgery, the AP reported. Koloski, who had been gored before in the leg, managed to win the double-mugging event despite the wound and was awarded $1,000 and a belt buckle, the AP reported.
He expects to be released from the hospital Monday or Tuesday, and plans to heal in time to participate in upcoming rodeos: the Aug. 1-2 Tanana Valley State Fair in Fairbanks, which he believes is the farthest north rodeo in the country, and the "Tough Enough to Wear Pink" rodeo Sept 5-6 in Anchorage, which raises money for breast-cancer awareness, according to the AP.
He may pass on double mugging, but says he "should be OK to do team roping," the AP reported.
