Memorial Bonfire to Honor Teen Killed in Bull-Riding Accident

It’s been a year of heartache for the classmates, friends and family of Rivervivew High School student Brooke Ann Coats, who lost her life in a local bull ring a year ago tomorrow.

Feb. 18 marks the one-year anniversary of the death of Brooke Ann Coats, 16, whose life and passion for the ring have been memorialized many times since then, including at a Benefit Bull Ride on March 26.

A memorial bonfire wil be lit in her memory Saturday, Brandon Patch reports, at the Crosstown Rodeo Arena on U.S. 301 South near the Lee Roy Selmon Expressway, where Coats was thrown from a bull at a Remington Rough Stock rodeo. Coats died that night from injuries sustained when she fell off and was reportedly kicked by the bull she was riding.

Saturday's event, from 6 p.m. to midnight, “will mark the one-year anniversary we lost this beautiful cowgirl,” reads the Facebook invitation.

Friends and classmates were stricken with grief after Coats' sudden passing last year. Hundreds gathered to pay their last respects at the teenager's visitation and memorial service.

A popular student at Riverview High School who got good grades, the junior was also a member of the band, swim, tennis and drama teams at Riverview and a wrestlerette, a group of girls at Riverview High School that support the boys’ wrestling team.