It\u2019s been a tough year for Chris Landers. The 30-year-old hunter from Strathmore, Alberta underwent four ocular surgeries at the beginning of 2022 to fix a detached retina, the result of a work accident during which some metal shavings flew into his eye. He hunted in 2021 before realizing the retina was an issue and successfully harvested an elk and a black bear. He was hoping to have similar success with his 2022 elk season, but things wouldn\u2019t go as planned. <\/p>\n
Landers and his buddies were hunting in the Spirit River valley north of Grand Prairie in the afternoon of Thursday, Sept. 15 when disaster struck. As they followed after a bugling elk, some thick brush knocked an arrow out of Landers\u2019 quiver. Somehow, the arrow stuck into the ground with the broadhead pointing up. Landers didn\u2019t see it in time and stepped right into the razor-sharp blades. The broadhead gouged into his shin, soared up behind his knee, and plunged into the back of his lower thigh. <\/p>\n
The blades severed his peroneal nerve and nicked an artery. This not only turned his left leg into a fountain of blood, but also rendered it practically immobile and without any sensory function. Extreme damage to the tissue and cartilage around his knee joint only got worse as he fell to the ground. <\/p>\n
\u201c[The arrow] went right beside the bone, almost halfway up my leg,\u201d Landers tells Outdoor Life<\/em> from a hospital in Calgary. \u201cIt went past my knee and snapped off somewhere. We found the bottom half of the arrow and another small chunk where it broke, so about 10 inches of arrow were in my leg.\u201d <\/p>\n His hunting partners Devon Spencer and Jared Manuel immediately sprung into action. They were miraculously in the only spot of cell phone service they\u2019d seen in the two days they\u2019d been hunting, so they called in emergency services. <\/p>\n \u201cWe stopped the bleeding so that it wasn\u2019t crazy bad, and I just tried to calm myself down a little bit,\u201d Landers says. \u201cWe had STARS Air Ambulance flying overhead about an hour and a half later. They nosed down and one of the nurses came down and put a tourniquet on. She couldn\u2019t get an I.V. in because I was in shock, so she had to do an [intraosseous infusion] and had to drill a hole in my leg to put meds in through my shinbone.\u201d<\/p>\n The STARS Air Ambulance landed about three quarters of a mile away in a clearing, and emergency responders arrived with chainsaws to cut a closer clearing for the search and rescue (SAR) helicopter to land on top of the hill. With the help of two other people, Landers hopped to the SAR helicopter, which then dropped him down to the air ambulance for transport to the Grand Prairie Regional Hospital. He underwent emergency surgery to remove the arrow upon arrival and then relocated to Calgary for more procedures. <\/p>\n \u201cI had the surgery for the arrow, then surgery for my nerve, then I had surgery to fix the artery. Then I\u2019ve had four debridements, where they\u2019ve cut dead muscle out of the front of my leg so it doesn\u2019t get infected,\u201d Landers says. \u201cI feel alright. It\u2019s been a lot of surgery, but it looks like that might be over with now until they do some skin grafts. But I\u2019ll be in the hospital for a few more weeks I have to imagine.\u201d <\/p>\n Whether Landers will regain full mobility and sensory function in his leg remains to be seen. Nerve regeneration moves at a slow pace, which complicates the process.<\/p>\n \u201cThe nerve itself was cut really high up, and it only grows about an inch a month from where it was cut into the dead part, so it grows down my leg an inch a month. So it\u2019s going to be a long time. I\u2019m probably not going to have much up-and-down movement in my foot. But they haven\u2019t said anything because they don\u2019t know. But because of the nerve damage and muscle loss, it doesn\u2019t look that good. But we\u2019re just taking it as it comes. It\u2019s not something I can change now so I\u2019m trying not to get too worked up about it.\u201d<\/p>\n Landers was carrying 150-grain KuduPoint fixed-blade broadheads at the time, and says the one that filleted him was brand new. <\/p>\n \u201cYeah, they work really good,\u201d Landers chuckles. \u201cMy buddies and I all run them. They\u2019re a phenomenal broadhead.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the physical and emotional trauma of such a gruesome accident, Landers and his wife Taya are trying their hardest to remain calm and upbeat.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been exceptionally tough because I\u2019m in nursing school right now, and what we\u2019re learning about is what I\u2019m going through in real life with Chris, but otherwise we\u2019re doing pretty good,\u201d Taya says. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to stay as positive as we can and just move forward with whatever they choose to do with his leg.\u201d<\/p>\n Multiple GoFundMe fundraisers have been set up to support the Landers as they stare down the long road to recovery. This one<\/strong><\/a> was created by his brother Colin, and this one<\/strong><\/a> by his hunting friends Paul Walt and Jacey Bronson, who were out in a different area during the accident. <\/p>\n \u201cI have benefits but they\u2019re not the best. The GoFundMe and everyone helping, it\u2019s been amazing, really,\u201d Landers says. \u201cThey\u2019ve helped out so much, it\u2019s unbelievable to think about.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"STARS](\"https:\/\/www.outdoorlife.com\/uploads\/2022\/09\/30\/bowhunter-takes-arrow-through-leg.jpg\"){kind=icon}
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