January 4, 2010
Man loses leg in hunting accident
A 23-year-old duck hunter was critically injured early Sunday morning on the Tennessee River when his shotgun accidentally discharged, striking him in the back of the left leg, just above the knee. Chris Hacker was listed in critical condition late Monday afternoon in the Surgical Intensive Care Unit of Huntsville Hospital, according to a hospital spokeswoman. The injured man had emergency surgery Sunday, which required the removal of his left leg at mid-thigh, according to a family member.
Hacker’s father, Jimmy Dale Hacker, said his son was sitting in the front of a boat on the Tennessee River near the Champion Paper plant at about 5:30 a.m. Sunday when he twisted in his seat to turn on the boat headlights.
“Somehow, he bumped his gun and it went off at point-blank range and entered the back of his leg about one inch above his knee,” said the elder Hacker.
He said his son’s hunting companion called 911 and Chris Hacker was transported to Decatur General Hospital, where he was administered two pints of blood.
“They Med-Flighted him to Huntsville Hospital and he had to have 20 more pints of blood,” said Hacker. “They had to remove his left leg. He’s stable now. He goes in and out and he knows us all.”
Hacker said his son was to have further surgery today and still more surgery Thursday to close the wound.
The younger Hacker, an employee of Reed Construction in Huntsville, and his wife, Kristara, became parents for the first time of a baby girl just one month ago, according to Jimmy Dale Hacker.
Friends have set up a fund for Chris Hacker, who is also the son of Angie Word of Anderson, at Reliance Bank.
Jimmy Dale Hacker has requested that friends, family and well-wishers hold phone calls to a minimum because of restricted cell phone use inside the hospital.