Warning: Distressing Content
Viral PressNineteen-year-old bull rider Wanderson Dias de Almeida was killed by a bull only a day after he posted an eerie message on social media about the fragility of life.
The tragic accident happened last Saturday when the teenager, who friends and colleagues say dreamed of being a world champion rider, was riding the bull during a training session in Rondonia state, Brazil.
A video that’s been making it’s rounds on YouTube shows the moments when Almeida rides the bull out into the pit, it’s there that he loses control and is flung off it’s back. In the process the bull kicks the 19-year-old in the head.
Viral PressAlmeida, who had only been wearing a body protector and a cowboy hat up to that point, was quickly rushed to hospital but was later pronounced dead.
The day before the young bull rider posted a series of eerily prophetic messages saying ‘Today we are here, tomorrow we leave’ and that we should ‘Think about that before you hurt someone. Goodnight.’
Devastated friends of Almeida and fellow workers from the town of Cerejeiras in Colorado do Oeste paid tribute to him, taking solace in that ‘He died doing what he loved’.
Viral PressA friend, Rayssa Haker said:
Wanderson loved riding bulls and it was his dream to be a star known all over the world… God found it fair to get him out of this cruel world, he had done his part and brought smiles to everybody around him
Here’s footage of the tragic accident (Warning: Some viewers may find the video distressing)
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An investigation by the military police is already underway to see if proper safety measures were in place at the ranch when Almeida rode the bull into the pit.
Lead investigator Officer Rodrigo Spica has stated that a team of experts have already visited the ranch ‘to gather more information’.
However professional bull riders have already said that Wanderson Dias de Almeida’s tragic accident was a ‘rare’ occurrence in a sport that is controversial despite considerable popularity in Brazil and America.
