A 17-year-old Durango High School student is recovering after being kicked in the head by a horse last week while working on a ranch north of Durango.

Ray Heron suffered a 2½-inch skull fracture and a brain contusion after being kicked in the left temple. A piece of bone came within a centimeter of his middle cerebral artery, the largest in the brain, said Frieda Nixdorf, Ray’s aunt.

He underwent a four-hour, lifesaving surgery at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, where he remained hospitalized Tuesday in stable condition.

The accident occurred the morning of May 29 at Bears Ranch, formally known as the Rapp Corral, near Haviland Lake. Ray works at the ranch as a ranch hand doing cattle and horse care.

Ray’s parents, Cory and Nina Heron, may have to stay in Salt Lake City for months while their son recovers. Ronald McDonald House Charities, a nonprofit that provides housing for parents near hospitalized children, has agreed to put up the Herons for a month.

Nonetheless, being out of work in addition to the mounting medical bills places the Herons in a precarious financial situation, said Nixdorf, who has organized a GoFundMe to help raise money for the family.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the GoFundMe, which can be found by searching “Help Ray Heron Overcome His Life-Threatening Brain Injury,” had raised $34,650 of its $150,000 goal. The family has also set up an account at Alpine Bank on Main Avenue for donations to the family.

Since coming out of surgery, Ray has shown signs that make his doctors and family optimistic about his recovery: voluntary movement in all of his limbs, opening his eyes, responding to verbal commands and working toward unassisted breathing, Nixdorf said.

Before leaving the hospital, Ray must undergo another operation replacing a piece of his skull that had to be removed during the initial surgery.

“He has a long road ahead of him with several more days in the ICU, followed by weeks, potentially months in the trauma unit, then daily therapy for months ahead,” Nixdorf said.

Ray, who is going into his senior year of high school, is an avid outdoorsman who loves working with horses, Nixdorf said.

His parents said in an email that their son’s aspirations after high school include obtaining his welding certification and working on a ranch as a backcountry wrangler.

“He’s such a great kid, good-hearted and good-natured. He really cares,” Nixdorf said. “He loves nature, he loves the wilderness and he loves working with animals.”

Ray has participated in Boy Scouts for eight years, rising to the rank of Life Scout and holding numerous leadership positions, including the highest responsibility a Boy Scout can take as “senior patrol leader” of Troop 538.

As senior patrol leader, Ray helped direct summer camps for younger scouts and led them on backcountry outings lasting more than a week, including to Wyoming’s Wind River Range and New Mexico’s Philmont Scout Ranch.

Ray has also participated in extensive community service projects through the Boy Scouts, such as helping clean up U.S. Highway 550, running annual food drives at the Durango Food Bank and placing flags on veterans’ graves every Memorial Day weekend.

The news of Ray’s accident has shook Troop 538 to its core, said Jeff Mason, Scoutmaster Emeritus for Troop 538.

“This is devastating, which it would be for any of the boys in our troop, but Ray holds a special place,” he said. “He’s very benevolent, caring, giving, more concerned about the young men in his troop. Putting them before himself is a common trait for him.”

Wade Griffith, current scoutmaster for Troop 538, has two sons in Boy Scouts who have been under Ray’s leadership.

“I love when my boys are around Ray, because I think he’s a positive influence on my sons, not only because he’s a good person with strong ethics and morals, but he’s also just so fun to be around,” he said. “When I told them that Ray was seriously hurt, my sons where very emotional. You don’t see a lot of emotion from middle school boys, but when they heard Ray was hurt of all people, they were really rattled.”

He added: “Ever since I met Ray, I thought of him as a true cowboy. He dressed like a cowboy, talked like a cowboy, he wants an old pickup truck, wears boots, works with horses – he really is a cowboy.”

nmetcalf@durangoherald.com