Al Hansen
Well-known member
Pat sent me an email a couple of days ago and I wanted to share a part of it with you.
Al
Trip to duck pit nearly tragic for Olive Branch hunter
By: Bryan Brasher
Even as a tougher-than-nails outdoorsman, Pat Pitt knows he's getting older, and he's quick to admit he could stand to lose a few pounds.
So the Olive Branch resident thought nothing of it when he got a little winded walking to his duck pit for a hunt on the afternoon of Jan. 16.
He chalked it up to age, weight and the excitement of seeing so many workable mallards nearby.
He quickly called in two ducks, dropped the drake with one shot and sent his Lab, Ace, to retrieve it. But the bird hit the ground at an odd angle and slid underneath the ice.
As Pitt, 64, rushed to help the dog break the ice, he got winded again -- and this time, the shortness of breath came with a tightness in his chest he couldn't explain away with age, weight or excitement.
Within seconds, he was sweating and nauseated, and his left arm was going numb.
When he realized he was having a heart attack, he called for his oldest son, Patrick, to come and get him -- and by a sheer stroke of luck, Patrick was able to.
See, Pat Pitt takes his duck hunting seriously. He's hunted all over the world, and he routinely hunts all 60 days of the Arkansas season.
He doesn't allow four-wheelers at his hunting club because they tear up the farmers' land -- and frankly, he believes if you're too lazy to walk to the pit, you shouldn't be hunting anyway.
But on this particular day, this one pit needed some minor repairs. So Pitt made an exception.
Because of that -- because the four-wheeler was there -- Patrick was able to get his father out of the field.
But their harrowing journey was far from over.
By the time they reached the truck to make the 20-mile drive to NEA Baptist Hospital in Jonesboro, Pitt said the pain was "intense beyond belief."
Patrick, thinking he might literally be watching his father die, stayed cool and calm -- even if he was driving like Richard Petty during his heyday.
"I don't know what speeds he reached, but I can remember him hitting the rumble strips as he passed people on both sides of the road," Pitt said. "I'll bet NASCAR would have signed him on."
When Pitt arrived at the hospital, the first thing they did was begin cutting his brand-new waders off of him -- and like a true duck hunter, he was ticked.
"I can remember thinking that if they would let me get up, I could take them off," Pitt said.
That's the last thing he remembers before flat-lining.
From there, things are understandably hazy.
He remembers moments of intense pain and moments of total serenity.
That bright light everyone says they see when they have a near-death experience? Well, Pitt says he's seen it twice now.
He remembers hearing someone say, "We're losing him."
But they didn't.
Thanks to a four-wheeler that normally wouldn't have been there, a son who outdrove Mario Andretti on his best day, a fine group of physicians and a group of family and friends who refused to stop believing and praying, Pitt survived a type of heart attack that kills many people before they ever reach the hospital
Remarkably, just two weeks later, Pitt got to see his Lab, Ace, retrieve his 7,000th bird.
It's a moment he would have treasured under any circumstances.
But on this day, it was particularly rewarding.
"I look at things a lot differently now and live for today," Pitt said. "I can't change yesterday and can't count on tomorrow. I've been given another chance to hug my wife, Gail, to be with my boys, Patrick and Stephen, and to watch another sunrise.
"I'll gladly take it."
Al
Trip to duck pit nearly tragic for Olive Branch hunter
By: Bryan Brasher
Even as a tougher-than-nails outdoorsman, Pat Pitt knows he's getting older, and he's quick to admit he could stand to lose a few pounds.
So the Olive Branch resident thought nothing of it when he got a little winded walking to his duck pit for a hunt on the afternoon of Jan. 16.
He chalked it up to age, weight and the excitement of seeing so many workable mallards nearby.
He quickly called in two ducks, dropped the drake with one shot and sent his Lab, Ace, to retrieve it. But the bird hit the ground at an odd angle and slid underneath the ice.
As Pitt, 64, rushed to help the dog break the ice, he got winded again -- and this time, the shortness of breath came with a tightness in his chest he couldn't explain away with age, weight or excitement.
Within seconds, he was sweating and nauseated, and his left arm was going numb.
When he realized he was having a heart attack, he called for his oldest son, Patrick, to come and get him -- and by a sheer stroke of luck, Patrick was able to.
See, Pat Pitt takes his duck hunting seriously. He's hunted all over the world, and he routinely hunts all 60 days of the Arkansas season.
He doesn't allow four-wheelers at his hunting club because they tear up the farmers' land -- and frankly, he believes if you're too lazy to walk to the pit, you shouldn't be hunting anyway.
But on this particular day, this one pit needed some minor repairs. So Pitt made an exception.
Because of that -- because the four-wheeler was there -- Patrick was able to get his father out of the field.
But their harrowing journey was far from over.
By the time they reached the truck to make the 20-mile drive to NEA Baptist Hospital in Jonesboro, Pitt said the pain was "intense beyond belief."
Patrick, thinking he might literally be watching his father die, stayed cool and calm -- even if he was driving like Richard Petty during his heyday.
"I don't know what speeds he reached, but I can remember him hitting the rumble strips as he passed people on both sides of the road," Pitt said. "I'll bet NASCAR would have signed him on."
When Pitt arrived at the hospital, the first thing they did was begin cutting his brand-new waders off of him -- and like a true duck hunter, he was ticked.
"I can remember thinking that if they would let me get up, I could take them off," Pitt said.
That's the last thing he remembers before flat-lining.
From there, things are understandably hazy.
He remembers moments of intense pain and moments of total serenity.
That bright light everyone says they see when they have a near-death experience? Well, Pitt says he's seen it twice now.
He remembers hearing someone say, "We're losing him."
But they didn't.
Thanks to a four-wheeler that normally wouldn't have been there, a son who outdrove Mario Andretti on his best day, a fine group of physicians and a group of family and friends who refused to stop believing and praying, Pitt survived a type of heart attack that kills many people before they ever reach the hospital
Remarkably, just two weeks later, Pitt got to see his Lab, Ace, retrieve his 7,000th bird.
It's a moment he would have treasured under any circumstances.
But on this day, it was particularly rewarding.
"I look at things a lot differently now and live for today," Pitt said. "I can't change yesterday and can't count on tomorrow. I've been given another chance to hug my wife, Gail, to be with my boys, Patrick and Stephen, and to watch another sunrise.
"I'll gladly take it."
