Anita Ellis Overcoming Battle Outside Arena Much Bigger Than San Antonio Success

Everyone who was watching the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo recently, and even those who weren't, saw Anita Ellis run into the arena again for the first time since a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) turned her life upside down.

It looked like the Idaho native never missed a beat, not just from the looks of the smooth run, but also from the fact that she took home a third-place check. San Antonio was her first rodeo back since spending nearly two weeks in the hospital back in November.

A horse accident that she doesn't remember ended up with multiple skull fractures as well as a trio of brain bleeds. At the end of the day, physical heals, and nothing is comparable to what happened internally.

The injury kept her from competing at her first-ever National Finals Rodeo after putting everyone on notice when she won the Calgary Stampede the previous July.

Anita Ellis smiles and holds her check in a cowboy ha after her big win at the Calgary Stampede — Anita and Brandon Ellis all smiles after winning the Calgary Stampede | Anita Ellis Post-Calgary Victory/Anita Elli

From the outside, Ellis looks nearly the same, but there is an internal battle going on every day that nobody can fathom, unless you have been through it yourself. It isn't just a mental block, but an attack from your own nervous system.

Life is hard. Running barrels is hard. Competing is hard. Imagine doing that while also fighting a battle with your own body.

Day to Day TBI Effects

Anita braids a grey horses mane in a pink shirt — Anita braids her horses mane before her run at San Antonio | Anita Ellis Professional Barrel Racer

Once an injury like this happens, your entire nervous system is thrown into fight-or-flight mode, constantly. The list is lengthy for what someone with a TBI goes through daily, but this is a good start:

Depression
Mood Swings
Uncontrollable Headaches
Exhaustion
Anxiety
Eye Irritation
Depth Perception
Mental Blocks
Fear of Physical Harm
Extreme Body Temperature Swings
Dizziness
Nausea

Exhaustion is a hard concept for the outside world to grasp. It isn't a sense of sleepy as there aren't enough hours in the day to sleep to cure this. Instead, it is a feeling deep in your bones as you just try to make it through each day, and whatever symptom is flaring up that day.

"Every day, I was dealing with emotions that were so foreign to me. It felt like someone else was in control of me. I told myself that it was my injury and started learning how to build myself back, sometimes that is still the case, and I started learning how to build myself back up.

The anxiety and fear would still be completely unbearable if I hadn't started that, feelings that still rear their ugly heads," stated Ellis.

Physical injuries are tough, but ultimately they (mostly) heal. What TBI patients go through is something someone can't see from the outside and it is a much tougher dogfight.

A Strong Support System

This is a personal matter to me, in every aspect, and without people backing you, there is no way to get through what Ellis is currently going through. Friends and family mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically.

This mother of four has the best people surrounding her, including her husband, Brandon, who anyone would be lucky to have in their corner.

Anita and her kids smile for a family picture — Anita and Brandon pose with their beautiful family | Anita Ellis Professional Barrel Race

"I'm grateful to stand in a support role for her now as she has stood beside me through so many chapters of my own life. I am also deeply thankful for her family, whose love and support have carried both of us through this journey.

I also have to admit I have had to keep my head on a swivel and stay on my toes more now than I ever did playing linebacker at Utah State," stated Brandon.

This isn't something that anyone can understand without living it, but Anita will be an inspiration moving forward and a support system to others going through it. She makes people understand that there is a path back, including me.

Rodeo On SI is grateful to share her story and looking forward to see her run at the Thomas & Mack.