Sundre-area rodeo athlete Ty Werk doesn't let little things get in the way of competing in the sport he loves – even if that little thing happens to be being shot in the arm with a broken arrow.
The 15-year-old Sundre High Grade 10 student was shooting his compound bow at targets on his family's Eagle Hill ranch on April 3 when an arrow shattered, driving the top portion of the shaft into his left forearm just above the wrist.
“Right when I released the string on the bow, the arrow exploded but a smaller piece was still attached to the string and it went right into my arm,” said Werk. “I really didn't want to look down. I knew that something real nasty had happened.
“It was quite painful. It was traumatic and very scary.”
Ty said he has been bow hunting since he was 12 years old and this was his first-ever mishap with an arrow.
Ty's father Larry, a former paramedic, was luckily also home at the time of the mishap and was quick to come to his son's aid.
“He didn't really know what to say,” said Ty. “He just tied my arm off (above the wound) and said ‘hop into the truck and let's get to the hospital'.”
After being X-rayed at the Sundre hospital, Ty was sent immediately to the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary.
“There I got removal surgery and then I had to come back the next day for a day surgery to clean up everything,” he said. “It went in and off the bone, but it didn't break anything and it ended up going between the bones (in the forearm) and it just grazed the main artery. It didn't get any tendons. I was very lucky.”
Ty received two dozen stitches and he started to get the feeling back in his hand about a week after the accident.
A competitor on the high school rodeo circuit in team roping and tie-down roping, Ty was planning to get right back into the rodeo game less than two weeks after his accident by competing in St. Paul over the weekend.
“I didn't win anything, but I did alright,” he said Monday.
Asked if he has any advice for other archery enthusiasts, Ty said, “I've never seen it happen, but I would recommend anyone who does archery to flex-check their arrows to make sure there are no cracks.”
He said he has not yet decided whether he will be doing any more archery in the future.
“It's questionable. It was scary enough. I haven't decided yet,” he said.
Ty says he does plan to keep the portion of the arrow that hit his arm as a keepsake.
“It will be something to show the ladies,” he said with a smile.
