Bhuvan Unhelkar, an admitted greenhorn from Florida, recalls nervously saddling a gentle white mare named Jenny for a two-hour life-altering horseback ride along a picturesque mountain trail in Cody in September.
It would be a ride he would never forget — one that he continues to come to terms with.
The setting at the Bill Cody Ranch, nestled in the shadow of Yellowstone National Park, was idyllic, and the company of his friend Josh Baker and six other riders was collegial.
But even that was not enough to ease Unhelkar, who brought up the rear as the others on horseback clip-clopped ahead.
About 30 minutes into the ride, his legs began to cramp. “I am an Indian who was trying to be a cowboy,” said Unhelkar, a 65-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen, who is taking a break from duties as a business professor at the University of South Florida this semester to shadow industry professionals.
“I was in severe pain,” he told Cowboy State Daily. "My thighs were all sore. Straddling a horse is not easy for me. But I thought, okay, I'll somehow manage it.”
However, Unhelkar, who lives in Sarasota, Florida, wasn’t prepared for what was about to happen next.
A guide instructed Unhelkar and the others that they were supposed to lean forward when their horses ascended a ridge on the trail and lean back on the way down.
When it came time for the maneuver, Unhelkar was unable to move. “I was frozen like a piece of wood,” he said. “When Jenny took three or four steps forward from up the ridge, I didn't know what was happening. I literally flew off Jenny, and I closed my eyes.”
Staff at Bill Cody Ranch did not respond to an email and phone call from Cowboy State Daily seeking comment.
Big Tumble
Unhelkar estimated he slid about 20 feet along the ridge before crashing headfirst into a fallen tree, narrowly missing a 100-foot drop-off.
“That's when the drama started,” Unhelkar said. “The left side of my head was opened up. There was a big gash, and a lot of blood was coming out, and I couldn't breathe. I tried to get up, not knowing what was happening.”
Baker, a 46-year-old financial consultant also from Sarasota, and a former student of Unhelkar at USF, immediately dismounted from his horse, used his shirt to stem blood from the gash, and administered a rudimentary concussion protocol.
“I asked Bhuvan for his name, the date, and whether he could,” said Baker, who is filling in for Unhelkar this semester at USF due to the externship. “He was in great spirits but in a lot of pain.”
Baker, assisted by his girlfriend, who also participated in the horseback excursion, and the guide, moved Unhelkar to higher ground to avoid being picked off by a grizzly bear. “I felt we were very vulnerable there (at the spot where Unhelkar was lying),” Baker said.
A 911 call was placed, and most of the horseback riders returned to the ranch’s base camp about a mile away.
Meanwhile, Unhelkar remained on the ground, groaning. “I was also telling Josh to keep cutting (sarcastic) jokes so that I'll remain conscious," he said.
After about 45 minutes, emergency medical services providers arrived on horseback. Unhelkar was administered an IV and placed on an inflatable stretcher, equipped with a single wheel.
It took rescuers an hour to guide Unhelkar off the mountain. He sang “America the Beautiful” to stay alert on the way down to the waiting ambulance that whisked him off to West Park Hospital in Cody.
Doctors at the hospital closed the wound on Unhelkar’s scalp with nine staples and then delivered bad news, telling him he had two cervical and five thoracic vertebrae that had been crushed.
After Unhelkar was stabilized and discharged, physicians in Florida urged him to return to the Sunshine State immediately.
Recover, Then Run
Baker and Unhelkar hopped into a rental car, made a beeline for the Billings-Logan International Airport about 80 miles away, and caught the next flight to Tampa, Florida.
The following day, Dr. Eric Sundberg, an orthopedic specialist, performed a five-hour emergency surgery on Unhelkar at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center near Sarasota, that included installing titanium rods to replace the crushed thoracic vertebrae.
Unhelkar spent about two weeks in the hospital and has since completed his physical therapy. Unhelkar credits his medical team and prayers from supporters in helping him heal. “I am extremely grateful to the universe that I have such a rich set of family and friends,” he said.
Unhelkar plans to run a half-marathon in Sydney, Australia, where he will teach from his second home, but doubts that he will ever get back in the saddle.
“I think I have done enough in this lifetime,” he said.
Scott Schwebke can be reached at scott@cowboystatedaily.com.
