Touched by a story of a toddler’s struggle to fight a form of bacteria, Kember Croft, a Bangs High School student, and her rodeo friends have decided to join the cause by raising funds for DerekScott Kirby, better known to his friends and family as “Bubba”.

During the Mullin Rodeo on Friday and Saturday, August 13th and 14th,  kids are going to have a “Fill the Boot” fundraiser on Bubba’s behalf, hoping enough will be raised to help the family with ongoing medical expenses.   The rodeo starts at 8:00pm and organizers hope that plenty of people will attend to support this cause.

Bubba has local ties in Goldthwaite and Brownwood and has been fighting for his life at Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin after swallowing dirt in a rodeo arena while “Mutton Busting”.  He was diagnosed with Hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) which stems from E. Coli.

“This all started because of a mouth full of dirt in a rodeo arena after he fell off a sheep he was riding (mutton busting). It blows my mind the severity of this virus. All from cattle,” stated his mother Devon Denman on her Facebook page.

DerekScott is making gradual progress and has been moved to Baylor’s “Our Children’s House” on Thursday to start rehab and recovery.