PARKSVILLE - A Parksville man who accidentally shot
himself in the chest Saturday during a hunting mishap remains in critical
condition today at the University of Kentucky Chandler Medical Center.
Melvin Baker, 54, is conscious and talking but remains in
critical condition because the shot slightly damaged his left lung, said his
daughter, Tammy Baker.
"It just clipped his lung. Almost all of the damage was
done to his left shoulder," Tammy Baker said.
"He's talking and everything. He's holding his own.
They're just watching his lung."
Melvin Baker had returned home from a deer hunting
excursion and was carrying a .50-caliber muzzle loader rifle when he tripped
as he entered his house on Baker Lane.
The gun fired as he fell, with the shot entering his chest
and exiting his shoulder.
Rescue workers called in a helicopter to transport him to
Lexington on Saturday afternoon.
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