A former college football star has had his leg amputated after his was shot by his dog while on a hunting trip in Mississippi last month.
Matt Branch, an offensive lineman for Louisiana State University from 2008-2011, took a trip with several friends late in December, but the excursion took a sudden, devastating turn.
The Mississippi Clarion Ledger reports a labrador retriever who had accompanied the group on the trip hopped into the bed of a Polaris Ranger utility vehicle and stepped on the safety of Branch's shotgun, firing at him from roughly four feet away.
The shot hit Branch on his left thigh and he was quickly transported to a nearby road where paramedics could treat him before he was rushed to hospital in Vicksburg, a city in Mississippi.
He was later transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center where his leg was amputated. He remains in a critical condition.