- March 10, 2025
Riley Lauremore is entering the Fair & Youth Show after he has spent the last year recovering from a traumatic brain injury. Photo by Sierra Williams
The Lauremore family as they prepare to enter the 2025 Flagler County Fair & Youth Show in April. Pictured: Amanda and Travis Lauremore with their children Riley and Emma. Photo by Sierra Williams
The Lauremore family as they prepare to enter the 2025 Flagler County Fair & Youth Show in April. Pictured: Amanda and Travis Lauremore with their children Riley and Emma. Photo by Sierra Williams
Riley and Emma Lauremore with their show pigs, Future Dinner and Sammy. Photo by Sierra Williams
As the 2025 Flagler County Fair & Youth Show Inc.'s livestock show looms ahead, the Lauremores are diligently finishing their final preparations for the show. Though the family has participated in the show for years, a boating accident left Riley Lauremore, 13, hospitalized during the 2024 show and sale.
Riley suffered a traumatic brain injury in the accident, just weeks ahead of the show. He broke bones in his face and skull and Riley had to have a feeding tube and a tracheostomey tube placed as he recovered. Riley also lost his sight in his right eye because of a tear in an artery.
He had to learn to swallow, eat, walk and talk all over again, his mother Amanda Lauremore said.
"He's a miracle, for sure. He definitely is," she said. "In the beginning, we didn't know what the outcome [would be] or how he was going to come home."
"Or if I was," Riley said.
Though the family was preoccupied with Riley's hospitalization, the community and the fair's 4-H and FFA board rallied around the Lauremores in their time of need. The 266-pound pig Riley entered in the 2024 show sold for a whopping $74 per pound when most pigs go for $2-5 per pound. After the auction, people kept donating until nearly $50,000 was raised for the family. The Fair & Youth Show board also paid for the pig to be processed and the meat was sent back to the Lauremores.
Travis Lauremore said there are no words to describe how grateful he and his family are for the support they've received.
"If the community hadn't come together like they did, we probably wouldn't have been able to make it," he said. "We would have lost the house."
If the community hadn't come together like they did, we probably wouldn't have been able to make it."
- TRAVIS LAUREMORE, Riley Lauremore's father
Riley spent the entirety of 2024 either in the hospital, in rehab or continuing his treatments. He was without a part of his skull from the accident until his surgery to install a metal plate on Jan.10. He had to wear a specialized protective helmet until the plate was placed, Riley said.
"Now I've truly got a hard head," he said.
Both Travis and Amanda Lauremore spent the year caring for Riley - beyond not having the time to go to work around Riley's appointments, Travis Lauremore said, neither of them had the mental capacity to work.
The Lauremores said that people at the fair are their family.
Just shy of a year after the accident, Riley is walking and talking and herding his 2025 show pig - which he has named "Future Dinner" - alongside his sister Emma and her pig, Sammy. His doctor, Amanda Lauremore said, had just cleared Riley to show at the fair at an appointment in the last week of February.
There is no normal life. But now we can begin to get back to the little things."
- TRAVIS LAUREMORE, Riley Lauremore's father
With the plate in place, he's able to resume most normal activities, she said. They're even considering beginning the process of transitioning Riley back into school, starting with one class period a day.
"I asked my parents if that period could be lunch," he said. He said he misses being able to hang out with his friends.
Even though they didn't know if he was going to be able to show, Amanda Lauremore said, it was important for them that Riley get back to his normal activities. Travis Lauremore said they thought it would help his recovery.
"We thought it was a thing that would help him wake his brain up," Travis Lauremore said.
The Lauremores took Riley and Emma to pick out their show pigs in November. They've since been feeding and caring for the animals diligently and both children are looking forward to showing their pigs at auction. Both pigs are now almost ready for show, with Riley's weighing around 230 pounds at its last check in and Emma's at 165 pounds.
Regardless of how well the pigs do in show, the whole family is ready to close this chapter of their lives. Travis Lauremore said the last year has taught him to appreciate the small moments in life.
"There is no normal life," he said, "But now we can begin to get back to the little things."
