"Nothin' But Try"

The day came that everyone had waited for; Shane was declared cancer free.  Now, it was back to the rodeo circuit and business as usual.

Just two months after his final chemo treatment Shane was back in the rodeo arena riding bulls.

The support for Shane had been unimaginable.  The Justin Crisis Fund had kicked in to help with bills, there were the proceeds from the Weatherford fundraiser, friends and family helped out in any way they could.  The payoff was seeing Shane’s return to the game he so loved, bull riding.

One of Shane’s comeback rodeos was in his hometown arena of Rapid City, South Dakota.  As he was getting in position to ride his bull a hush came over the crowd and then burst into a roar as the announcer began, “They said he would never ride bulls again, but you give me some thunder for Shane Drury.”

Shane nodded and the gate opened.  Together, Shane and the huge, brown bull burst into the arena; first spinning to the right and then back around to the left.  The crowd yelled and cheered, “Go, Go, Go” and screamed with excitement as it appeared that Shane was going to make the eight-second whistle.

He began to slip to the side of the beast as it bucked, spun and twisted ferociously in its attempt to throw Shane to the ground.  Not to be undone by the bull, Shane performed as he had done so many times before his cancer, gripping, spurring and holding on with all his might and determination.

What seemed an eternity ended with the eight-second buzzer sounding and Shane still in command of the bull.  There was a deafening roar from the crowd that overshadowed  announcer Rorey Lemmel’s microphone until he, too, burst into a scream, “Shane Drury, I don’t care what the score is.  That man has fought every battle and looked it in the eye.  That is yours and my hero, Shane Drury, Shane Drury.”