Exactly 16 days after agricultural economics junior Ken Belden was announced as the third senior Yell Leader, his dream of running onto Kyle Field for the first time was threatened after his all-terrain vehicle lost traction causing him to lose control during spring break in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
While Ken laid on the ground in the mountains struggling to breathe due to a collapsed lung and waiting for first responders to get to him, he couldn’t help but think about the people who supported him throughout his life.
“The thing that scared me above all else was that I had finally gotten this awesome position and that by some sort of freak accident that would get taken away,” Ken said. “I wasn’t worried for my own personal reason for being a Yell Leader. What bothered me the most was the fact that there were so many people that had pushed me along the way. To think that they would support me that whole way only to see me not fulfill the role. That was legitimately what bothered me the most.”