ALTON, Ill. — When Jack “Sandy” Sandford’s spurs come to town, you’re in for a show. The 67-year-old Army veteran has taken those spurs near and far to pursue his passion for bull riding.
And that passion has been in his blood for a long, long time.
“I was 14 or 15 years old. Got invited to a small, amateur rodeo. I got on it, was scared to death. Heart going about 150 mph. Did what everyone told me to do. It bucked about three times, and it went one way and I went the other way. And it was just stuck in me then," Sandford said. "Just kept on doing it."
“You got to be an adrenaline junkie. You got to want to go about 100 mph. You’re grabbing onto something that weighs anywhere between 1,500 and 3,000 pounds, and it’s like a stick of dynamite going off in your hands," Sandford said. "The best way I could put it is that it’s like dancing with a crazy woman. Because you have to keep the rhythm—it’s all body rhythm.”
But on the back of a 2,500 pound bull, things can often get a bit sideways… like one time back in Sandford's 20’s.
“I was riding at Billy Bob’s Texas. I got a horn in my jaw, got a horn in my back, broke my wrist and broke part of my leg, too. There was a hole in my jaw. Rushed to the hospital. They put a plug in there and sewed it in. I had to go back to the hospital like eight weeks in a row," Sandford said.
But in no time, he was back on the bull.
“My bones hadn’t even healed. I cut the cast off of my wrist and still had my foot in my cast and I hooked my spur to it and I rode in San Antonio, Texas about four or five weeks later.”
Sandford currently rides on the World Senior Professional Bull Rider circuit, where at 67, he’s the oldest rider on his tour. Which makes him perhaps the oldest bull rider in the country. Oh yeah, he’s also 6th in the world in his division.
“I had a streak where I rode 14 bulls in a row this year before I got thrown. It’s off and on. It’s the luck of the draw. You draw one and have no idea what you’re going to get, and you do your best to make the dance," Sandford said. "I’ll travel 24 hours for an 8-second ride. All the way to the bottom of Texas to back here. 24 hours of driving for an 8-second ride."
“Eight seconds sounds like a short period of time… but when you’re on the back of that bull, eight seconds is like eternity. It takes forever," Sandford said in an interview at the Illinois Boots and Saddle Club in Alton.
The 8-second rides seem longer for Stanford's wife Kathy, too.
“He’s been knocked out before and it took me two seconds to go from the bleachers all the way around to the chute where he was at. I was a wreck. So those 8 seconds are a lot," Kathy said.
Those moments on a bull can feel like forever, and so can those moments when you get a diagnosis from the doctor. Sandy got his news in May 2023.
“She goes, ‘What you have is noncurable and not treatable, and you’ll have to figure out what you want to do'," Sandford said.
Sandford was diagnosed with advanced cancer of the upper intestine, liver and lymph nodes. But just like rebounding after a rough ride, he didn’t hesitate to get back up.
“When they said it was malignant and non-curable. I’m like, ‘Hey, bring it on. We’re gonna take this ride to the end. I’ve never been one to quit on anything, so I’ve got this mindset that we’re gonna ride it to the end," Sandford said.
But he’s not riding alone. His wife and bull-riding community have been there the whole way,
“My wife’s been… she’s been the best. The guys on the rodeo circuit— when I got to when I couldn’t stand —those guys would get in line and pay my entry fees. They’d put my bull rope on my bull. Even the guys in the chute and the judges wouldn’t rush me— to give me my best shot to make my rides," Sandford said. “They (rodeo friends) all chipped in and bought me a new set of chaps this year. So I rode them during the finals and I’m gonna wear them all year. They will be the last set of chaps I ever get. I’m gonna wear them out.”
Yes, you heard that right. Although he’s fighting cancer, Sandford hasn’t given up riding.
So what did his doctor think about that?
“First of all, I didn’t really believe what he was saying. ‘So you go and watch?’ And he said, ‘No, no, no. I actually do it.," Manpreet Sandhu, Hematology Oncology physician at OSF St. Anthony's in Alton said. “There are some things that are so important to patients that without that, life is not meaningful to them. So, I could see that (bull riding) was that for him.”
“She looked at me like I was crazy. She goes, 'If that’s what you want to do, go for it,'" Sandford said.
So here he is. Chemotherapy every other Monday at Moeller Cancer Center in Alton, work in between and then planning for the next 8 seconds as “The Sandman”.
“So proud. Chemo strong. Cancer strong. Lots of prayers. Lots of faith. Lots of hope," Sandy's wife, Kathy said.
“For us and for patients who are in his shoes, he’s a great example of how you can have a life-changing diagnosis but live your life to the fullest and live your life every day," his doctor, Sandhu said.
“The man upstairs is gonna take care of you, so don’t stop. Keep going forward. That’s my motto forever. I don’t know where reverse is. Motorcycles don’t have reverse. Bulls don’t have reverse either. So you get in, you nod your head and you’re going forward. Ride it as far as you can. Stay forward and positive, and just do not give up. There are good days and bad days. Some days are worse. Just wrap it up and go," Sandford said.