Mayor shot in face makes it to highway for help
HAPPY VALLEY-GOOSE BAY, N.L. — A Labrador mayor climbed onto a snowmobile and reached a nearby highway to flag down help after he was shot in the lower face while hunting, his friends say.
Mayor John Hickey of Happy Valley-Goose Bay was in critical but stable condition Monday in a hospital in St. John’s after being airlifted for surgery Sunday.
“The adrenalin and sheer will power to get himself to the highway was remarkable,” said N.L. Speaker Perry Trimper, a longtime friend.
The mayor was alone Saturday with a shotgun, checking rabbit snares just west of the town, when he was wounded, he said.
Trimper said it took a “superhuman” effort for Hickey to reach the Trans-Labrador Highway for help, where a passing driver called an ambulance.
“Accidents happen, unfortunately, with firearms. And this is what it looks like happened. He was by himself,” Trimper said.
Trimper said Hickey, a former provincial Progressive Conservative cabinet minister, has not been able to communicate exactly what happened.
“I guess John would be the only one to be able to tell us,” Trimper said. “He enjoys getting into the woods and that’s what he was doing.
“He was taken to the hospital right away and had a very difficult night Saturday night. Several of us were there with him through the evening.”
A candlelight vigil is planned for tonight at the town hall.