Shane has been helping guide hunts for a friend. He was down on Mount Dutton and had been hunting since Saturday. Last night around 9:20 pm I get a call from Shane's phone. The reception is really terrible where they hunt. I was finally able to hear someone on the other end but it was not my husband. It was his friend Jay. What I got out of our fuzzy disrupted conversation is that someone had died on the mountain in their group. I was pretty certain he had said it was not Shane. He also said they would not be coming home tonight. I was pretty shook up after this call and so called his Mom and Dad. I told them what I believe I had heard. With Val's reassurances I was feeling pretty secure in the belief that it was the friend of their hunter and not my husband.
At 10:00 pm I got a call from Shane's boss, the chief of Police. He told me dispatch had called and told him Shane had had a heart attack and fallen off his horse, hit his head on a rock and died on the mountain. I reassured him I was sure that Jay had said it was not Shane. He told me he would let me know the name of the deceased as soon as they got the body off the mountain and could contact the dispatch center with a positive ID.
Well as you can guess this had me second guessing myself something awful. I went over and over in my head what I thought I had heard Jay say through all the static. Then I started to wonder if I had heard wrong and it was Shane. Then I started to wonder if Jay had just told me this to keep me calm until they could get Shane's body off the mountain. Lets just say I was in a full panic. I did not sleep a wink the whole night. I just sat and cried/worried by the phone waiting for his boss to call me back and let me know who it was for sure. I received no phone calls.
At about 5:45 I hear the familiar sound of our suburban pulling up in the front of our house. Could it be? I jump up and run to the door. Out steps Shane alive and well (at least physically).
It turns out it was the hunters best friend that passed away. Shane was there to do CPR on him but it did not help.
Right now I am so very thankful that my husband is alive and well. This has been the longest and most horrible night of my life. I feel terrible for the family that is getting the crushing news today that they have lost their beloved Husband, Father and Son.
I am also very mad at the dispatch center and Shane's boss. I don't think the way things were handled were very professional. They should not start guessing who it is just because the phone call came in on my husbands phone. Granted I am sure the call they received was just as hard to hear and understand as the call I got but come on! Calling the family and letting them know their loved one might be dead when they do not know for sure is NOT a good thing.
I had to call into work and get the day off. I have slept on and off but my mind is still racing. Shane is exhausted mentally and physically and has been sleeping most the day.
I have been lucky to never have been present at a death. Funerals are bad enough for me. I feel so bad for those that were there to witness this mans last breaths and have to feel the total sense of helplessness as there was nothing they could do so save this mans life.
Well i guess I better lay down and try to catch a little more sleep before I have to go pick up the kids from school. My brain and emotions are fried. I probably should not be posting this in my present condition but I guess that is what "delete post" is for when you finally come to your senses.