Family of Cheyenne Boy Who Saved Sister From Attacking Dog Writes Book For Kids

What makes a hero?

It’s a question Bridger Walker and his family have fielded often, are you going to write a book?

Walker gained worldwide acclaim in July 2020 after he was severely hurt shielding his little sister Brielle from a dog attack.

Bridger, who was 6 at the time, was rushed to the emergency room where he went through a two-hour surgery requiring more than 90 stitches. The story of his heroism quickly spread around the world.

After his injury, parents Robert and Teila Walker had many conversations with all their children about what makes a hero, a word commonly used to describe Bridger, now 10, and his actions to protect his sister that day. The family discussed that being a hero is not always a great act or sacrifice, but that heroes are found in normal, everyday people.

“We have four other kids at home, and we were all trying to work through what happened with the story going viral,” Robert said. “We just started talking to them about what it means to be a hero. Because we know any of our kids would have made the same type of sacrifice for a sibling.”

They wrote down each of the five children’s thoughts during the conversation, and it was from those that the idea for “You Can Be a Hero” was born.

The children’s book was released by the Cheyenne family earlier this month.

“Every child, every person, has special characteristics that make them a hero,” Robert said. “Just by being who they are, they use those talents and God-given gifts to make their communities and their families and the world a better place.”

Qualities Of A Hero

Not long after the attack, the family was rockhounding near Jeffrey City to get away from all the attention. Robert asked Bridger if he felt more important and special after saving his sister.

Bridger said no, and when asked what makes him special, he simply responded, “I am me.”

“This little 6-year-old was working through a lot, he was healing and recovering, but he realized where his worth comes from,” Robert said. “That's one of the messages we really want to get across through this book. We want kids to know that their value comes from who they are on the inside, not from any external force, and that they are an influence for good.”

A true hero, the Walkers told their children, does helpful little things every day. Even if it is hard or scary, a hero keeps showing up and doing their best.

“The point that we tried to get across was nobody's life should be defined by one act for good or bad,” Robert said. “It would be a tragedy if Bridger is defined the rest of his life for something that happened when he was 6, and all of a sudden that becomes the sole focus of who he is as a person.”

Writing the book was therapeutic for the family, who had a basic outline for the story more than two years ago. It focuses on Brielle, who was 4 when Bridger saved her from the attacking dog.

At the beginning of the book she introduces Bridger, saying, “I want to be a hero like my brother is to me; somehow become the person he inspires me to be.”

The story finds Brielle exploring what being a hero actually means.

What Makes A Hero

“She’s not big, strong and fast like the superheroes in the movies, but she still wants to make a difference,” Robert said. “It's her working through simple scenarios that every child's going to live through and realizing that she has something very special to offer.”

Along with Brielle and Bridger, siblings Mylee, Johnny and Wit are characters in the book as well. At the end of the book Brielle discovers she's been a superhero all along, just by being herself.

Brielle said the beginning is one of her favorite parts of the book because “you don’t need superpowers to become a hero. You just need a big heart.”

Bridger said he likes the flower page in the book. It speaks to sharing love and not having to do things perfectly.

The illustrations were done by Angelo France of Brazil. When Bridger got hurt, the artist did a sketch and turned it into digital artwork that he sent the family.

“We just fell in love with it, and then when we decided we wanted to do a story, he was the first person we reached out to,” Robert said. “It took us about two and a half years to get all the lines and artwork just perfect the way we wanted them, but he was great to work with and the detail that he put into each drawing was better than we could even imagine.”

The Walkers kept the project a secret until just before the book release, only letting family and a few close friends know it was in the works.

“We wanted it to be perfect and something we could be really proud of before we released it,” he said. “We’re really excited to share it. I think the message that we're trying to share about instilling certain values has come across. All the reviews really emphasized the family values and that's special to us.”

Amazing Experiences

The release of the book wasn’t the only excitement this summer for the family. In July they traveled to Thailand after Bridger and his older brother Johnny were invited by the World Boxing Council and the Tourism Authority of Thailand to train Muay Thai in the country for three weeks as part of the WBC Amazing Thailand Muay Thai Summer Camp.

“It was really an incredible experience for the boys, just being able to do the Muay Thai was empowering for them,” Robert said. “They've been doing jiu jitsu for about six years, so they already enjoy martial arts. Thailand was absolutely incredible and the people were amazing."

Bridger said he enjoyed the training and also getting to travel to James Bond Island.

“We went on a boat to James Bond Island,” he said. “We went to this little beach, and it had nobody there.”

The WBC has supported the Walkers since shortly after Bridger’s injury, when he was made an honorary champion and received his Green Belt in the mail. In 2020 the WBC announced a new weight division in boxing that it decided to name in his honor called “Bridgerweight.”

And at the WBC’s 2021 annual convention in Mexico City, Bridger was honored with the organization’s inaugural “Bravest Man on Earth” award. Since then, Bridger has attended each convention to present the award to a new recipient in Acapulco, Mexico and Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

“When we were in Uzbekistan, we met the head of the Muay Thai division of WBC and he said, ‘Oh, you've got to come to Thailand sometime,’” Robert said. “We didn’t really think much of it and then about five months ago, we got an email from them saying they were starting their first Muay Thai summer camp and they wanted Bridger to be a part of it.”

Dogs And Scars

It was also at one of the WBC conventions that Bridger found a new friend, because despite what he’s gone through, he’s not afraid of dogs. Bridger met a dog named Athos, who was hit with grenade shrapnel while protecting his family’s home in the Ukraine, covering him with scars. Bridger fell in love with Athos, so his breeder Chico Lopez eventually brought one of the dog’s puppies to Omaha, where MMA fighter Cris Cyborg presented it to the boy. Bridger of course named the pit bull Cyborg.

“If there's a new dog he hasn't met before he'll certainly be cautious,” Robert said. “Bridger adores Cyborg, feeds her most every night and she has been an important part of his emotional recovery.”

The Walkers have dogs named Loki and Valkyrie as well, belonging to his older siblings Mylee and Johnny, respectively. And at the time of his attack the family had two dogs named Elektra and Thor, who have since passed away. Robert said Thor was a key part of Bridger’s early recovery because he felt safe around the dog.

Bridger has also continued to receive treatment on his face to lighten his scars. In the months following the surgery the scars were starting to rise up and become uncomfortable. It was around that time, the family got a call from Dr. Dhaval Bhanusali, a world-leading dermatologist that specializes in scar reduction through laser treatments.

Dr. Bhanusali flew Bridger to New York to receive his first treatment and proceeded to coordinate Bridger’s care with Dr. Cory Maughan of Logan, Utah. After a series of treatments, Bridger’s scar is barely noticeable.

“The laser treatments are really quite painful,” Robert said. “Bridger describes it as fireworks going off on your face. But both doctors have been amazing, and the laser treatments made a huge difference. Now Bridger gets to tell people about his scar if he wants, but it's not the first thing people notice about him.”

Saying Thanks

When Bridger’s story first went viral many of his favorite on-screen superheroes reached out including Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Chris Pratt, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly and Zachary Levi. And he got to visit Tom Holland on the set of “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”

Many others contacted the family as well including retired baseball and football player Bo Jackson, who came to Cheyenne with bikes and autographed jerseys. He also brought Bridger the biggest trophy he could find. Around that same time, Bridger received a package from the 10th Special Forces Group making him an honorary Green Beret.

As small thanks to the individuals and groups who contacted the family after hearing Bridger’s story, there are also small tokens or “Easter eggs” hidden throughout the new book. An example is a little green spider full of muscles that is a nod to Ruffalo’s Hulk character.

“We wanted to say thank you to as many people as we could without it being a distraction so we have the ‘Easter eggs’ in the book,” Robert said. “The book is dedicated to everybody that reached out to Bridger during a really dark time.”

At the back of the book each of the tokens are shown along with who or what they represent, so readers know what to search for. There’s also quotes from each of the Walker children about what being a hero means.

“A hero is someone who protects and helps people, and sometimes when people really need help a hero stands up for them. “Bridger saved my life and he’s a hero,” Brielle said.

Bridger, meanwhile, said “Being a hero is doing the right things even if it is hard or scary.”

The final two pages have several photos of Brielle and Bridger. The two siblings are as close now as they were four years ago.

“We just finished a couple of seconds ago playing Minecraft together,” Brielle said Thursday afternoon.

Acts Of Kindness

Early on the family asked that in lieu of sending money, people donate to a charity of their choice or take a picture of their favorite rock so the family could make a book of rocks from around the world. Within days the local post office had multiple rolling bins full of packages for the family with actual rocks for the rockhound.

Bridger received so many packages that he has his own rock exhibit at the University of Wyoming Geological Museum where he is sharing his favorite rocks with the world.

“The rocks represented somebody going out of their way and doing something they didn't have to do for a little boy who went through something traumatic that they wanted to make feel better,” Robert said. “He's got his rocks on display over there. And some of some of the rocks that we kept at home weren't really museum-grade samples but they were incredibly valuable because of the stories that came with them.”

In acknowledgement of all the acts of kindness the Walkers received, they will be donating 10% of the net profits of the book to charity.

“You Can Be a Hero” is available on Amazon and at bridgerwalker.com.