On “The Stampede” podcast with Vince Young and Mack Brown, Jordan Shipley shared new details about the ranch fire that left him with severe burns.
Brian Bahr/Getty Images
Former Texas Longhorn Jordan Shipley shared new details this week about the ranch accident that left him with severe burns earlier this year, including the moment he feared he might not escape a burning skid steer.
Shipley spoke about the Jan. 5 incident during an appearance on “The Stampede” podcast with former Texas teammate Vince Young and former Longhorns head coach Mack Brown. Shipley, Young and Brown were all part of Texas’ 2005 national championship team.
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Shipley, a former standout receiver, was injured while working on his ranch near his hometown of Burnet, about 50 miles northwest of Austin. According to a statement released at the time by the Texas football program on behalf of Shipley’s family, the machine he was operating caught fire. He escaped but suffered severe burns before a ranch worker drove him to a local hospital. He was later airlifted to Austin in critical, but stable condition.
The former Longhorn said the fire spread in an isolated area without cellphone service.
On “The Stampede” podcast with Vince Young and Mack Brown, Jordan Shipley shared new details about the ranch fire that left him with severe burns.
Brian Bahr/Getty Images
“We had a fire at a ranch property that kind of just unexpectedly spread and got close the neighbor’s fence line,” Shipley said. “It was not an area where there was any phone service or anything. So, we couldn’t call. We basically had to do something right then or the fire was going to get to this property.”
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Jordan Shipley recalls terrifying moments inside burning skid steer
Shipley said the skid steer, a large machine used for digging and lifting, lost its tracks, leaving it immobilized as flames spread. When he tried to escape, he said, the door would not open.
“There was about 30 seconds there where I’m just like, ‘What do I do?’ ” he said.
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He spent 10 days in intensive care before he was released from the hospital around Jan. 17. He said doctors later told him his recovery was “nothing short of a miracle.”
Shipley said he burned his hands escaping the machine and then faced more than a 40-minute walk back to his truck. Despite the burns, he said, he still had to lift the trailer ramps despite severe burns to his hands before driving about 10 miles to find a ranch worker, who then drove him to a hospital before he was transferred to Austin.
“I didn’t have any skin on my hands, but I had to put the ramps back up on the trailer so I could drive,” Shipley said.
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Jordan Shipley says ranch accident changed his perspective on life
Shipley said the accident changed his perspective on family, time and work-life balance. He also recalled a conversation with his son the morning of the fire.
“The other crazy thing that happened that morning, for some reason, I don’t know why, but my oldest son was five, he’s just turned six, but he was asking me on the way to school all the way: ‘Dad. When are you going to go to heaven?’ ” he said. “And, I was like, ‘Well, son, I have no idea.’ ”
“It has changed the way I think about time and work-life balance and just all that, because, man, you just you don’t know,” Shipley said. “I mean, it can literally happen at any time.”
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Shipley ended the story with a joke about what he would do if his son ever asked the question again.
“If he ever does it again, I’m going home and sitting on the couch,” Shipley said.