Rumors have been flying across Owen County that a boy died nearly two weeks ago as a result of an ATV accident at the Owen County Fair.
Every day since the accident, 5-year-old Keegan Nicholson has asked his mother how the boy’s been doing.
Melia Nicholson of Warsaw didn’t have the heart to tell her son the boy died.
And now she doesn’t have to.
Seventeen-year-old Tyler Pence of Mt. Sterling, the young ATV rider in question, broke his spine in three places according to his father, Shannon, who said his son should make a full recovery.
“He’s home, he’s healing nicely, and he’ll be out riding as soon as he can,” Shannon Pence said. “He isn’t walking around right now, but he’s in a brace and resting. He’ll walk and he’ll be okay.”
“I don’t know who started that rumor, but the boy’s going to be okay,” said Jackie Burden, director of B&M Motorsports which hosted the arenacross racing July 13 at the fair.
Melia and Keegan, along with hundreds of other spectators that night, watched Tyler fly end-over-end off his ATV.
“His feet almost touched his head, he was that twisted around,” Melia remembered.
“Not a muscle moved,” she said of when Tyler landed in the dirt. “It was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
The crowd was stunned into silence. “You could hear a pin drop, it was that quiet,” Melia said.
Nicholson was so upset, she approached an Owen County EMS technician and asked about the boy.
“He told me the boy had died,” she said.
Fears about her son, Keegan, as well as her brother, Jason Frillling, racing later that night wouldn’t abate.
“I didn’t know what to do, but Keegan still wanted to race,” Melia said. “I just told them to be careful, whether they came in first place or last place, it didn’t matter, just as long as they were careful.”
Being careful is the key, according to Tyler’s dad.
Shannon Pence said his son’s temper got the best of him and made him try a jump on an unsuitable spot in the track.
“He was in last place, on the last lap, thought he could do it and just came up short,” Pence said. “He had a bad attitude about it and made a bad mistake.”
Pence said if his son had been wearing his chest protector, he wouldn’t be injured like he is now.
“Tyler always wears all his equipment, and had he looked harder in his truck, he would have found it,” Pence said.
The fair rules state racers must wear a helmet, goggles, gloves, a long-sleeve shirt and boots to compete.
Pence said Tyler is an experienced rider and without a serious injury resulting in a hospital visit until the fair accident.
“He’s been riding since he was 5 and racing since he was 7 or 8,” Pence explained.
Pence taught his son how to ride and has his own motorcross track. He even has two pickups lined nose-to-nose in his yard he and his son like to jump.
A former professional racer, Pence said he understands safety and taught his son from an early age how dangerous ATVs can be. Tyler’s dad said he had a serious crash when he was 30 and gave up the sport professionally.
“I finished the racing season, but realized with my age, my family, my company, my farm — I could have lost everything,” he said.
But racing isn’t over for Tyler.
“He’ll be back out there when the doctors and I tell him he can be, not a minute before,” Pence said.
With 106 deaths, Kentucky recorded the nation’s fastest-growing death rate for ATV users from 2002 to 2004, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Kentucky reported 328 ATV-related deaths in the 20 years ending in 2004, more than a third of them children.
The most common injuries associated with ATV crashes are to the head, face and spine: skull fractures, facial fractures, brain injuries, coma, paralysis and spinal cord injuries, like Tyler’s.
Tyler’s dad cautions ATV riders about the safety at fair races and says children and their parents should look into it more.
“They’re not professional tracks, and everyone needs to keep that in mind,” he said.
Burden said his company, which hosts races at several county fairs in Kentucky lays out the track with plenty of room for the riders.
“We have good flaggers in case somebody goes down, and we won’t have a race unless we’ve got everything in place.”
EMS reported three injuries the night of the races, according to EMS records.
In addition to Pence’s accident, another rider was transported to the hospital with a collar bone injury. A third rider was not transported but suffered a knee injury and was treated at the scene by emergency services.

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