“Sometimes you make choices in life and sometimes choices make you.” – Gayle Forman

Rylee Ramsey had her future planned out, but it was put on pause after the 2019 PHS graduate was involved in an unfortunate accident in late August.

“Rylee was practicing flags at Cody Nite Rodeo, and the flag snapped in the horse’s face and spooked the horse,” said junior Raelynn Ramsey, who is Rylee’s sister. “The horse took off and Rylee couldn’t get the flag out of the boot quick enough to control the horse. The horse fell on its butt and that’s when Rylee lost her balance and then took a sharp right while Rylee kept going to the left and flew off hitting her head on the gravel.”

Raelynn had just gotten home when she received a call from her mother about Rylee’s accident.

Rylee held the title of Miss Cody Stampede Lady-In-Waiting, holding her spot as 2020 Miss Cody Stampede and was actually practicing for the Cody Nite Rodeo finals, her last run as Lady-In-Waiting. Rylee was also getting ready to move into college at MSUB (Montana State University Billings), but with the accident, it withdrew her from the first semester. Ramsey still plans to attend in the 2019 spring semester.

Rylee was flown to Billings and stayed on the same ICU floor as senior quarterback Ethan Asher, also involved in an accident days before.

“At the beginning while I was staying in the hospital, I couldn’t move much,” Rylee said. “I was unable to move my head and my speaking and eyesight [were] struggling, I still continue to have major headaches, black outs and unbalanced movement.” 

A local grocery store, Mr. D’s, volunteered to sell hamburgers and hot dogs, and all the proceeds went to the Ramsey family to help pay for medical bills. 

The next step for Rylee is recovery, where she has to be on bed-rest for six weeks and doctor’s appointments.

“The next step will be at the next doctor’s appointment where I will take an MRI scan to recheck the damage on the skull and brain,” Rylee said, “and also to make sure my main blood vessel is healing correctly and [to see if] the hematoma is going away. 

“This accident was obviously unplanned and took a big turn on life. We look at it as another stepping stone to the greatness that is coming. And looking into the future, I’ll just have to be more cautious in what I do and be aware that I will have continuous headaches for awhile now.” 

A fundraiser dinner was held for the Ramsey family at the Eagles Lodge Oct. 19.