Former LSU Offensive Lineman Matt Branch Loses Leg After Dog Shoots Him

Former LSU offensive lineman Matt Branch is in intensive care and had 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. "

Heckford said he and Branch have gone on an annual hunt in the area each of the last several years. According to him, Branch’s cognitive abilities appear to be okay and that the former player is expected to recover;

[Clarion Ledger]

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