Wait, WHAAAAAAAAAAAT? Just stay with me here.
Former LSU offensive lineman Matt Branch is currently in intensive care and was forcedto have his leg amputated after being shot by a dog while duck hunting in Mississippi, his friend tells the Clarion Ledger.
“At approximately 9:40 a.m., David Joe, David, Matt and I were all standing around the bed of the (Polaris) Ranger and Matt had laid his gun down flat in the bed of the Ranger and walked around on the passenger side to finish loading up,” [Micah] Heckford said. “I was at the tailgate no more than 4 feet away from him.”
Seeing that the hunters were loading the vehicle, another hunting companion, a Labrador retriever named Tito, jumped in the bed of the Ranger. As he walked around finding a place to sit, he stepped on the safety of Branch’s shotgun and pulled the trigger.
“The gun shot,” Heckford said. “Everybody looked up. The first thing I saw was Matt and within two to three seconds he realized he was hit.”
Branch began screaming and fell to the ground. The gun had shot through the bed of the vehicle and struck his left thigh.
“In the midst of the chaos at this point, I ran over to Matt to assess what had happened,” Heckford said. “We had no clue what the damage was at this point in time.
“I immediately yelled to David Joe to call 911. As quick as possible, we picked up Matt and loaded him into the Ranger. I jumped in the bed and David Joe took off driving.”
Branch was taken to a road that first responders could access. Heckford applied pressure to the wound to slow the bleeding. When firefighters arrived they cut off Branch’s waders and pants.
“I think that’s when it hit me how serious it was,” Heckford said. “It was at that point in time I realized how much he had bled. His pants were just soaked in blood.”
Branch’s left leg was amputated and has undergone several surgeries.
Branch played 28 games for the Tigers before being forced to cut his career short due to injuries.
A GoFundMe account has been set up in former LSU player Matt Branch’s name to help with expenses.
