Teen wins benefit roping event, gives prize to injured Waco firefighter

WACO, Texas (KWTX) Alvarado roper Lain LaFountain, 17, was the big winner of the Garth Goodwin Team Roping fundraiser, which drew hundreds of participants in Waco over the weekend, but he didn’t take home his prize money and instead quietly gave it back to the man whom the event honored.

“It was a benefit for him and I felt like he needed it more than I did,” LaFountain told KWTX when reached by phone.

LaFountain won both big events in the roping fundraiser Saturday for Garth Goodwin, a veteran Waco firefighter who was paralyzed after falling from a billboard while working off-duty in May.

The event brought in nearly 500 teams to compete at the Extraco Events Center Saturday, which included Lain who found out about it from a friend, but had never met the firefighter it honored.

“I really just went up to rope for a good cause,” LaFountain said.

After the event wrapped up, LaFountain sought Goodwin out.

His dad, Greg LaFountain, thought his son simply wanted a photo with Goodwin, but was surprised when his cell phonevideo caught so much more.

http://www.kwtx.com/content/news/Teenage-roping-winner-quietly-gives-cash-back-to-paralyzed-firefighter-441427463.html

“I had been videoing him all day long and I thought instead of just a picture or two, I’ll just take video,” Greg said.

“I was just overwhelmed. It was hard to keep it together.”

While you can’t hear the exchange on video between the winning roper and Goodwin, you can tell Goodwin didn’t want to accept the check and that’s when Lain took matters into his own hands.

“He didn’t want to take it,” LaFountain said. “So I just put it in his pocket.”

Lain's dad says while he was proud he wasn't surprised.

A year ago to the day of the Waco roping event, LaFountain won another benefit in Decatur, and also donated the money back for whom the benefit was organized.

“I couldn’t be more proud of him,” Lain’s dad said.

“He’s just always been this way.”