Apper’s Mind Freak Named in Support of PBR Fan’s Battle with Cancer
By: Justin Felisko
PUEBLO, Colo. – When Kenny McElroy was battling cancer seven years ago, there were many days he wanted to stay tucked inside his bed.
The desire to get up, put on his cowboy boots and go to work on his ranch in Mount Orab, Ohio, may have been there, but his physical ability to do so was not always there.
His chemotherapy treatments would lead to various symptoms, including hot and cold spells unlike anything he ever experienced. It could be 80 degrees outside and he would want to stay wrapped in a blanket, while other days he would feel like he was on fire for hours.
On many days, McElroy was worn down mentally and physically.
“It is tough,” McElroy recalled this week. “First off, cancer is one of the worst diseases a person can get. Seeing other people get it and their fight, having gone through it and knowing how it feels and what it does, I kind of have the knowledge to help push a person through it. You can tell them what you did and what you did to get through it.”
“You have to stay positive. Everything has to be a positive mental note. You can’t allow yourself to get down. It is pretty tough.”
Kenny’s wife, Cristy, remembers the daily struggle her husband went through during his battle. Doctors had to remove a cancerous tumor that was one-and-a-half inches in diameter, nine inches of his colon and 25 lymph nodes surrounding it.
Kenny was determined to defeat cancer, but he also felt helpless at times.
“He would have bad days where he wanted to lay in bed,” Cristy recalled. “He would never admit it, but even he had days where it was a pity party for himself, and he had every right to.
“All of a sudden he would snap himself out of it and go to the barn. The bulls gave him the motivation to kind of keep going.”
Kenny added, “Even when I was going through chemo and all the crap, I knew I had to get up in the morning and I had to take care of bulls. I had to work bulls. Nobody else was going to do it. It just made me focus on what my main goal in life was and to push through it.
“It is a hard deal to go through. You are tired and you wear down quick. You just have to keep pushing.”
Kenny has since been cancer free for seven years, but his 2012 battle against colon cancer is something he will never forget, nor would he wish it upon any of his worst enemies.
The 49-year-old has a different view on life now. Whenever he meets or talks to someone who is battling cancer, he cannot help but relate and feel for them. The same can be said for Cristy, who watched her husband’s battle up close.
The McElroys recently became inspired by PBR fan Mary Apper’s courage in the face of her own adversity.
Apper has been a fan of the PBR since 1996, and she visited the K-Bar-C Bucking Bulls ranch last month as part of the PBR’s Premier Experiences tour in Ohio while she was in state to receive treatment for cancer.
Cristy and Apper had connected via social media earlier in the year, and the two stayed in contact until Apper finally met the McElroys in-person last month.
During Apper’s visit, she had the opportunity to meet all of the K-Bar-C Bucking Bulls, including her personal favorite, Big Black.
Apper, however, unexpectedly made a special connection with Mind Freak.
“Then the more she was here, the more she kind of took to Mind Freak,” Kenny said. “She had that sparkle in her eyes. It is kind of crazy because Mind Freak took to her and he is kind of the same way. He is real personable and you can love on him. He took to her real quick. I think she fell in love with him here.”
A few days later, Cristy received a message from Apper.
“She said, ‘I still love Big Black, but I am really having a bull crush on Mind Freak,’” Cristy said.
That got Kenny, Cristy and their daughter, Josie, thinking.
What could do they do to help encourage Apper in her bout against cancer?
Apper had previously said that she would love to someday own a bucking bull but didn’t have the means too.
Kenny knows how inspirational his bulls – Uppercut, Who Dat, King Lopez and Cool Spot – were for him during his own battle, and he believes that having something else to focus on during his recovery from colon cancer helped him continue to stay positive during those hard and trying days.
He wants to give Apper that same added boost.
Therefore, K-Bar-C Bucking Bulls has decided to rename Mind Freak as Apper’s Mind Freak in support of Mary.
“I have gone through the same thing she is going through and I know how hard it is,” Kenny said. “With my family and friends – these bulls helped me the most. I know if Mary had something like this, she can stay positive and have something to look forward to.
K-Bar-C Bucking Bulls wants Apper to know she is not alone in her battle, and Apper’s Mind Freak can hopefully serve as another source of motivation.
“With everything she is going through, and trying to keep her positive and keep her healing, we decided we would do this for her because she is one of our best fans,” Kenny said. “I just think it is a good thing and it needs to be done. We are going to make her part of Freak and hopefully she will stay positive and get a chance to heal.
“She has beat cancer once, but she can beat it again. It is going to take a lot of help.”
Cristy added, “Kenny went through the physical stuff and the emotional, but I was right there with the emotional. Anyone who has a family member or significant other or friend who had cancer, it draws you to people who are going through the same thing. I know she has good friends and everything else, but she is such a huge PBR fan in whole. Not just in our bulls, but all of PBR.”
Apper was diagnosed with adenocarcinoma in her small intestines and pancreas in June of 2017. She has already had two major surgeries since her diagnosis. She had a Whipple procedure done in July 2017, taking out parts of her small intestines, stomach, pancreas, and liver along with the complete removal of her gallbladder. Her second major surgery was the removal of a cancerous mass the size of a softball that embedded itself into her ribs where they took out two of her ribs and part of her liver.
A PET scan this past March, showed cancerous masses on her stomach lining, right lung and liver.
Despite the news, Apper has remained positive and focused on her path to recovery. She wrote on Facebook earlier this month;
“For the time being, I will push on and enjoy every day I have to the fullest. Cancer has taught me to truly appreciate and love every day I open my eyes to God’s great world.”
Not only has Apper courageously fought cancer, but she also served in the United States military from 2006-2017 before medically retiring.
Apper was a Damage Control Petty Officer First Class at the time of her retirement. She was deployed five times, four of which came aboard the USS Chafee (DDG-90) and one time as boots on the ground in Afghanistan.
According to the McElroys, Apper was given various awards for her service, including the National Defense Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Navy Accommodation Medal (four times), NATO ISAF Medal and Expert Marksmanship Medals for both the pistol and rifle.
Kenny said Apper’s military service also played a role in K-Bar-C Bucking Bulls wanting to name Mind Freak after her.
“My father was in Vietnam,” Kenny said. “He fought for this country. My grandfather was in the World War and Korea. We are a military-type family. Those people who fight for our country are probably more important than anything in the world. This is something to give back to her for what she has done for us.”
Apper’s Mind Freak will next buck this Sunday in the championship round of the Green Bay Invitational, presented by Oneida Casino and North Star Mohican Casino Resort.
The McElroys are hopeful that Apper’s treatment will go well in the coming months so she can join them in Las Vegas at the 2019 PBR World Finals to cheer on their bull.
“She was supposed to go to the Finals this year, so we are hoping she can still go to the Finals,” Kenny concluded. “This will give her a little more push to maybe go see her bull at the Finals.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
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