Shane Drury

Shane Wesley Drury (June 29, 1979 - October 31, 2006) was a professional American rodeo bull rider for the PRCA association. He was also known for his inspiration to fight cancer.

Childhood and pre-career

Drury was born in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and was reared with his two brothers, Chad and Jesse, in Rapid City, South Dakota. In 2001, he graduated with a business degree from Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma.

Career

Drury was on the Southwestern Oklahoma State University rodeo team that, in 1999, won the national championship. Drury made the trip in 2000 to Las Vegas, as a contestant in the National Finals Rodeo (NFR), and won a national ranking of 10th place. He won the Reno Rodeo championship in 2001, which set an arena record.

Drury started experiencing back pain (as a result of the cancer that would claim his life) later that year, but he fought through it, and he almost qualified for the Wrangler NFR again, finishing 19th in the national rankings for the year.

Cancer and death

Drury was diagnosed on May 5, 2002, with Ewing's sarcoma, a rare type of cancer found most commonly in teenagers. He was treated at the Denver Children's Hospital. Following chemotherapy treatments, a tumor was found and removed in his chest cavity. The cancer went away for a year, and Drury judged rodeos while recuperating. However, the cancer came back twice more in the next two years. He ultimately died on October 31, 2006, at the age of 27.

Shane Drury Scholarship

The Shane Drury Scholarship is a scholarship given to a National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association member that has "faced adversity in their own lives and never given up". The first award was given to Jyme Peterson, a student at Montana State University, during the College National Rodeo Finals in June 2006.

External links

* [http://www.realezsites.com/pers/shanedrury/about.php Shane Drury: Nothin' but Try (blog kept by his brother, Chad)]