The 15-time PRCA Specialty Act of the Year, John Payne the One Arm Bandit is a legend in the Western world and is coming to the Horse Heaven Round-Up. His one-of-a-kind show features horses, cattle, buffalo, mules, and zebras.
The notorious One Arm Bandit was born to a rancher in the oil-rich town of Shidler, Oklahoma, on April 19, 1953. When John was twenty, thinking the electricity had been shut off, he climbed up a telephone pole to cut some wires. The problem was he was dead wrong about the status of the wires. Without warning, 7,200 volts of electricity ran through his entire body for an unbearable 10 seconds. It burnt through the fingers of his right hand, and he fell to his death.
He was brought back to life but was in bad shape. The electricity exited through his body through his abdomen, leaving his intestines protruding. The voltage had burnt through his left leg as well, exposing his thigh bone from his knee several inches up. Despite the massive electrocution, he survived. The doctors wanted to cut John’s left leg off, but he told them, “I can’t ride a horse with one leg, and if I can’t ride a horse, then I don’t want to live.” However, the doctors cut off his right arm because it was completely burnt.