Monday, April 1, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
It wasn't how the dance was supposed to begin. No music, no laughter, no young voices bragging about the beasts they had ridden that day.
Instead, nearly two dozen teenagers filtered into the American Legion hall in Boulder City on Saturday night, took off their cowboy hats, dropped to their knees and prayed.
They couldn't get out of their minds the most-talked-about ride of the day in the Boulder City Open Rodeo.
About 12:30 p.m., 15-year-old Adam Turner butted heads with a 1,500-pound bull and fell to the ground unconscious.
Paramedics rushed his limp body by Flight for Life helicopter to University Medical Center, where his family has maintained a bedside vigil.
He remained in critical condition today, his skull fractured and facial bones shattered. Doctors induced a coma which, with medication, they hope will reduce the swelling in his brain, authorities said.
"They aren't telling us anything more," said Holly McAnlis, a family friend who helped put on the weekend rodeo.
"We decided to go ahead with the dance. The kids needed a place to be together. There was crying, lots of crying."
And special songs as well, she said. Country songs about bravery, about cowboys and angels.
Especially frightening to his peers was the fact that Turner was wearing full protective gear -- a helmet designed specifically for bull riding, a mouth piece and chest protection similar in style to a bullet-resistant vest.
"It's just one of those flukes," McAnlis said. "Adam was coming forward and the bull was coming back. ... He met the top of the bull's head, and the impact was just too much."
Turner, a sophomore at Boulder City High School, started riding bulls a few years ago and has landed his share of glory in recent competitions.
He won his first belt buckle -- the highly sought-after trophy in many rodeo competitions -- on Thursday night during a special round of the Boulder City competition, McAnlis said.
The bull he was riding Saturday was the same bull he had ridden to a third-place finish in November at a Las Vegas High School rodeo.
"He's a good kid, a good rider," said a friend who declined to give his name. "I've watched him ride for years. It was an accident; it happens."
The rodeo was open to all ages, and featured riders from Clark County, Northern Nevada, Utah, California and Arizona. The five kids under 18 who entered were required to have their parents' permission, proof of which had to be on a release, signed and notarized.
Turner was back at the rodeo in spirit Sunday, his peers having pinned black and silver ribbons -- his colors -- to their shirts.
And by day's end, a healthy pile of loose change and dollar bills had been poked into a concession stand box with Turner's name taped to the front. The collection will go to the Cowboy Crisis Fund, a nationwide organization that raises money for injured cowboys.
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