RAPID CITY - Alex Heinle would like to be the next Professional Bull Riders league champion.

He won't be soon, but that is only because he is 8 years old.

"Since Alex could walk and talk, he wanted to be a bull rider," said his mother, Marty Heinle.

But the young competitor has already been through some battles.

Alex, of Black Hawk, is involved in mutton busting and calf riding. Alex has ridden 700-pound steers, and he has been to three rodeos in Pine Bluff, Wyo., two in Montana and competitions at White River and Bison. He was even involved in the sheep riding at the stock show.

"Just bull riding," Alex said about what he enjoys most in rodeo. "It's very hard. You have to practice a lot."

His parents do what a lot of rodeo families do to acclimate their children to rodeo. They help him get on the animal, and they help him with his ropes. Though Alex is only 8, they have no problem with him on an animal.

"Well, not too scary," Marty said. "The way I raise him, everything we've been through is another stepping stone."

On Thursday, the family took the biggest step with Alex. Doctors told the family that Alex's EKG is normal.

Alex was diagnosed more than five years ago with a medical condition known as Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome.

According to the American Heart Association, Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome involves an extra conduction pathway in the heart and the electrical signal sent to the heart may arrive at the ventricles too soon. It's recognized by certain changes on the electrocardiogram, which is a graphical record of the heart's electrical activity.

Many people with this syndrome who have symptoms or episodes of tachycardia - rapid heart rhythm - may have dizziness, chest palpitations, fainting or, rarely, cardiac arrest. Other people with WPW never have tachycardia or other symptoms.

Though 80 percent of WPW patients are diagnosed between the ages of 11 and 80, the first signs of it appeared when Alex was 3.

Alex's heart was beating at a rate of 300 beats per minute when he was first taken to the doctor. He was later taken to Minnesota to one of several specialists, which he has seen for about five years. Alex was put on medication, which helped keep down his EKG, as surgery was a risky option.

The time was stressful on the family. At one point, doctors in Indiana said surgery was too risky of an option. Doctors told the family to go home, that there was not much they could do.

"His chances of dying were 100 times that of another 8- year-old," Marty said.

The hardest struggle for the family was everyday living - especially school. Marty said Alex could not keep up with the other kids, and he used to take four-hour naps each day for energy. Another challenge was not having a nurse at the school. Marty said her heart jumped a bit every time the phone rang with the school's number.

The family did choose to have Alex go through surgery on June 10, and he recovered well.

The news of her son's clean bill of health finally sunk in for Marty on Friday morning. The reaction was not something she could put to words.

"We were overwhelmed," said Alex's father, Andrew. "It's great. It was just … we just took a big sigh. It's over with. He has good odds that it is not coming back."

The Heinles' challenge now with Alex is one they'll definitely take - finding a rodeo sponsor to help pay for Alex to compete.

"They would put a patch on his bull riding vest," Andrew said. "Most of the rodeos we go to are youth rodeos, with 500-plus people at an event."

One opportunity for him came at a rodeo camp hosted by riders Dusty LeBeth and Tony Rice in the summer of 2007 at a christian bull riding camp in Kansas.

"I learned to ride bulls and everything," Alex said. "It was pretty nice. We went walking, bull riding. (I) had a good time."

In the meantime, Andrew and Marty will keep teaching Alex to ride. They have a practice barrel in the backyard, and a neighbor - who used to ride bulls professionally - has a mechanical bull.

They are also trying to find someone who has live cattle for him to practice with, and they are thankful for the support they have received from other families in rodeo.

"We love it. There's nothing like rodeo families," Marty said. They'll do anything to help you."