A very interesting read in the Washington Post this morning about Harry Whittington, the man accidentally shot by then Vice President Dick Cheney while hunting in 2006. When asked if he ever got an apology from Cheney, Whittington says, “I’m not going to go into that.” The writer concludes an apology never came.
Whittington sweeps a hand up to his dusky face and points near his right eye, then to the right side of his forehead. The eye socket, hairline and hand have birdshot pellets lodged in them, too. If you look closely — and strangers occasionally sidle up to him to do just that — the accident’s remnants are evident; there’s a tiny bump in each spot.
Every so often, for months afterward, some of the lead in Whittington’s body worked its way to the surface. But many pieces remain too deeply embedded to remove, including one near his heart. At 82, Whittington knows he will live the rest of his days with about 30 pieces of shot inside him. Somehow, he jokes, he can get through a metal detector without causing a commotion.