Alberta chainsaw artist to carve public memorial for bullrider Ty Pozzobon

Chainsaw artist Marina Cole willsculpt an image of the late bull-riding legend Ty Pozzobonfor his family and his hometown inB.C.'s southern Interior.

The City of Merritt and the Pozzobon family commissioned Cole to create a piece to displaypubliclyin memory of the young rodeo champ after she won a local carvingcompetition.Pozzobon, 25,died in January 2017 andwas later diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy,a disease linked to repetitive brain injury.

"He's touched so many people in his career and he's so young," Cole told CBC's Doug Herberton Daybreak Kamloops.

"I think foremost, I just want to bring something to Ty's family that will be able to fill a tiny piece of their heart," she said. "I couldn't imagine losing my child. It would be so tragic."

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Cole will begin carving this weekand plans to incorporate allor part of a bull along withPozzobon's image. But she said all her ideas have to be approvedby the city and Pozzobon's family.

When the news about Pozzobon's death broke last year, Colewas drawn to the story.

"I'm from Medicine Hat, there's a lot of rodeos everywhere we go" she said. "Something like that is shocking to everyone."

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Cole has been carving for six years, and less than two using a chainsaw.

"It's not that easy when you're working with pieces of wood that are hundreds of pounds each," Cole said.

For this piece, she plans to use a lot of glue, screws and dowelling to hold the monument together. She hopes to have it ready for September 2018.

With files from Jenifer Norwell

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