Early this year, former Texas football player Jordan Shipley was in a ranch accident that left parts of his body severely burned.
The wide receiver was driving a skid-steer on a ranch when an ember caused it to catch fire. Shipley was able to get out of the cabin, but suffered third-degree burns on his body that were so severe he had to be airlifted from a Burnet hospital to the burn unit of Dell Seton Medical Center in Austin.
Shipley was in the ICU for 11 days recovering and didn’t need skin grafts or surgeries as part of his recovery. But there was more recovery that he had to do after the accident and he shared that journey with Kirk Bohls of the Houston Chronicle.
What happened on the ranch?
Shipley, who starred for the Longhorns from 2004-09, was working on his ranch northwest of Lake Buchanan. An ember caused the small piece of equipment to catch fire with Shipley still inside. He tried to get out, but the door was jammed and he was stuck for a little bit.
“I was scared,” he said. “I was praying and screaming. I was yelling ‘Please let me out, Lord’ at the top of my lungs.”
After forcing the door open, Shipley was free, but the journey was not over. Since the accident occurred in a remote part of his ranch, he had to walk 45 minutes until he saw a coworker who drove him to the hospital. While he was walking away from the fire, he heard the skid-steer explode.
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How did Shipley recover?
The prognosis wasn’t great when Shipley went to Dell Seton Medical Center.
The surgeon prepared him for potentially at least a three-month hospital stay because of the amount of skin grafts he needed. Twenty-one percent of his body had been burned and procedures were needed for his hands, arms, legs and the side of his face.
But all that happened was 11 days in the ICU, recovering. After he was discharged, Shipley had nightmares for two months. His wife, Sunny, became so traumatized by the accident, she has become claustrophobic and is reluctant to fly, he said.
What kept Shipley going was the power of prayer and staying rooted in his Christian faith. He always held his faith close, but Shipley felt the impact after the accident.
“I saw people I know praying who don’t ever pray,” Shipley recalled to more than 330 people as part of the Toolbox Christian outreach ministry at Austin Country Club. “The fact that I’m here is a miracle.”
Shipley lost roughly 15 pounds during his recovery and his burn scars look like a weird “birthmark.”
“I take every moment I can get with my family now, and it’s changed everything about the way I think about time and work-life balance,” he said. “I know enough that I’m not in control. God is. A lot of times I think he uses struggles that we have to walk through to bring us closer to him.”
What does Jordan Shipley think of the Longhorns?
Shipley played six seasons with the Longhorns and was part of the 2005 national title team. He sees parts of that Longhorns squad in the 2026 team when Texas took down Ohio State.
“You want to talk about mass chaos,” Shipley said. “There were kids running around. My brother (Jaxon, also a former Longhorns receiver) was fired up like an understatement. He was running around the house, chest-bumping and high-fiving everybody. It didn’t look good for a while there, and then all things came together for good.”
The Longhorns continued to stay undefeated after Saturday’s 30-6 win over UTSA. Now, Texas is preparing for its SEC opener against Tennessee.
Texas plays Tennessee Saturday at 11 a.m. on ABC.
This article originally published at Texas ex Jordan Shipley shares more about ranch accident, thoughts on the 2026 Longhorns.
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