Floyd Cross was a bulldogger. But, he discovered, taking down a steer is nowhere near as tough as taking down cancer. For 12 years, he lived with the disease. It invaded his colon and liver, threatening his life time and again. But thanks to new treatments developed through research, he is now cancer-free.
To celebrate Floyd’s victory, his family organized the first annual “Tough Enough to Wear Purple” steer wrestling competition in their hometown of Kingfisher. On Mother’s Day, 15 cowboys, most longtime friends of the Cross family, trekked from Kansas, Texas, Iowa and across Oklahoma to grapple with 500-pound steers in the triple digit temperatures. Their efforts netted more than $3,000 for OMRF research.
“In rodeo, everybody helps everybody,” says Sherrie Cross, Floyd’s daughter. “We knew that rodeo folks would come out to help us celebrate dad’s victory over cancer.”
