Rodeo Accident Spurs Suit

The family of a woman who was seriously injured in a golf cart accident at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo earlier this year has filed a negligence suit against the rodeo and a volunteer who was driving the cart.

Yvonne “Bonnie” Herndon remains in a coma after she was reportedly thrown from a golf cart following a Toby Keith concert Feb. 25.

According to court documents obtained by the Houston Chronicle, “Herndon’s body was involuntarily ejected from the right side of the moving vehicle and onto the pavement” when the driver of the cart, Madeline Kopetsky, made a sharp turn. Herndon, a longtime rodeo volunteer, suffered a “closed head injury” and has remained unconscious since the accident, the suit says.

The filing also blames the golf cart manufacturer, Club Car, claiming the carts feature a row of seats without including “handhold restraints … that passengers could use to avoid being ejected from the vehicle while it was moving.”

Attorney Brant Stogner told the Chronicle Herndon is “totally reliant on a feeding tube. She’s been off the ventilator – and that’s good – but assuming no further recovery, she will require the same type of treatment for the rest of her life,” Stogner said.

Her medical bills reportedly total about $500,000. In a statement, the rodeo noted “the petition involves a tragic accident that has deeply saddened and pained our organization. Bonnie is a member of our Show family. She is a longtime Show volunteer, a member of the Show’s board of directors, and current chairman of our Western Art Committee. Our thoughts have been, and will continue to be, with Bonnie and her family.”