Family mourns death of 19-year-old after bull riding accident

ELKRIDGE — An Elkridge family is mourning the loss of their 19-year-old son after he was killed in a bull crash this weekend.

They spoke to KSL and they shared more about him and said he inspired them to live life to the fullest.

It was Saturday evening when the Andersons got the call that their son Tait was going to Utah Valley Hospital on LifeFlight. They say he lived to ride bulls, and if he could say anything now, he would tell others to “live your dream.”

“He kept us on our toes, there was never a dull moment,” Roy Anderson said.

And the Andersons said Tait’s love for bull riding started when he was three years old.

“He was sitting on the back of the bench, everything he could think of, he was riding a bull,” Roy Anderson said.

Tait was planning his next rodeo Saturday night when his passion turned deadly. Roy Anderson got the call from one of Tait’s colleagues around 6 p.m.

A dire situation

“They told us the bull had stepped on his sternum and we had to get there as quickly as possible,” Roy Anderson said.

The Andersons knew the situation was dire. Their son was flown to Utah Valley Hospital.

“I think we were only there 40 minutes before we got the news that he didn’t make it,” Roy Andersons said.

Now that Megan Anderson is talking about him, she’s holding his crotch.

“He lived for bull riding. He lived, breathed, loved, it was his language; bull riding,” the couple said.

For the Andersons, they will miss his zest for life, his passion for rodeo and his enthusiasm that was contagious to everyone in the neighborhood.

“He just loved to play and he loved to make people happy, that child could have been a child for life,” the couple said.

A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family with costs.

*KSL TV does not guarantee that the funds deposited into the account will be used for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries. If you are considering making a deposit into the account, you should consult your own advisors and proceed at your own risk.