BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 7, 2022
Chad Thompson of Milford lay in the back seat, bleeding profusely, as his two friends raced to get him help. The Old Town High School students were deer hunting on the last day of firearms season in 1992, when one of them accidentally fired his rifle while loading it. The bullet tore through the left upper thigh of the then-18-year-old Thompson, severing his femoral artery. He spent two months at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor opting for amputation of his leg below the knee rather than complicated restorative measures that might fail. The former three-sport athlete was forced to adjust to life with a prosthetic limb. In the years after the accident, Thompson bowhunted for deer. Now, he’s again pursuing deer with a rifle. “I’ve always been extremely passionate about nature and the outdoors,” he said.