By Carol Mowdy Bond
Contributing Writer
A native of New Mexico, with time periods spent living in both Oklahoma and New Mexico, now-27-year-old José Vargas was a cowboy and an athlete. He toured the nation as one of the best calf ropers. “I was pretty darn good,” Vargas said.
But at age 15, Vargas was on horseback, roping a calf at a New Mexico rodeo on July 4, 2009. A life-changing mishap occurred. Vargas, who has a strong faith in God and Jesus, said when the incident took place, and as he was flying off his horse, “Jesus spoke to me. He said, ‘It’s still not time.'” And he takes that to mean that it wasn’t yet his time to meet Jesus in Heaven.
Vargas suffered a serious brain injury during the accident. And he was in a coma for two months. He ended up in a medical rehab center, where specialists began helping him learn everything including swallowing, learning to talk, learning to feed himself, walking, building physical strength and more. And those issues are still daily challenges for him. He spends his days in a wheelchair, and he can only walk with assistance.
After leaving rehab, he returned to Hennessey, where he was graduated from high school. But since about age 18 or 19, Vargas has lived at the Center of Family Love, CFL, a residential facility for intellectually and physically challenged adults. Located in Okarche at 635 W. Texas Avenue, Vargas lives with 15 other residents in one of the many CFL residential buildings. A large number of residents live on the campus.
Vargas, who is bilingual, said, “My horse’s name was Torbeta, which means ‘thoroughbred’ in Spanish. Every day I showered her and brushed her teeth. I bought her a Dr. Pepper every time we did good at roping. Torbeta was pregnant when the accident happened. She’s now in horse heaven. That day I lost two horses.”
Although he doesn’t let fear run his life, of his daily attitude and feelings, Vargas said, “I’m a little bit of everything. Most of all I’m hopeful.”
Due to his infectious laugh, Vargas said, “I might make the staff crazy with my laugh.”
He likes CFL, and says he has friends among the residents. But Vargas has only been on a horse one time since the accident. He wants to ride horses again, and he wants to walk, and rope calves. He is a University of Oklahoma football fan. His favorite food is pepperoni pizza, his favorite ice cream is butter pecan, and he loves cheeseburgers with lettuce, tomato, mayo, and ketchup. Family oriented, Vargas makes phone calls every evening, to talk to his mom, his aunts, and his grandmother. He has two brothers and one sister, but usually only sees them at Christmas. Due to COVID-19, church services, mass, and Bible study have been cancelled and have not resumed at CFL. And Vargas misses all of that. He sometimes gets bored at CFL.
Vargas will turn 28 years old in September. He’s unsure what Jesus wants him to be doing now. And when he says grace before a meal, he packs a powerful prayer up to God. But his eyes light up when he talks about horses.
Reporter’s Note: While interviewing José Vargas, I learned his favorite ice cream is butter pecan. He doesn’t have a second favorite ice cream. It’s butter pecan all the way. As well, his favorite cookie is butter pecan. And I learned the last time he enjoyed butter pecan ice cream was likely prior to his 2009 accident. I drove north to a Braum’s in Kingfisher, and bought him a cheeseburger and French fry lunch, a Sprite soft drink, and a package of M&M cookies. (Braum’s doesn’t sell butter pecan cookies.) And I bought him two cartons of Braum’s butter pecan ice cream. We wrote his name on the ice cream cartons and cookie package, and stored them appropriately at CFL. But my guess is that José will eat everything before the weekend is over.
