By Vanessa Torres
USA –-(Ammoland.com)- Recently I had the chance to speak with Brian “Pigman” Quaca. He was in a horrible accident recently that nearly cost him his life.
It has been some time, but he is on a great road to recovery, and is speaking with me about this, his show, Pigman: The series, and more.
Many of Ammoland’s readers are aware of your accident in Decmeber of 2014 and we are curious as to how the recovery process is going?
It’s going really well, actually better than the Doctors expected. I just had another eye surgery recently and I’m recovering nicely. I’ll have another few weeks of wearing the eye patch just to help protect from dust/wind, but then I should be able to remove it. As far as the nerve damage, it seems like I can feel more and more every day. I wouldn’t have ever thought pain would have felt so good, but I was so happy just to feel something after these surgeries. I’m doing acupuncture twice a week and that has helped greatly. Besides that, it’s just a lot of road trips back and forth to Temple to see all the different specialists on “Team Neuro-Pig“.
What has been one of the most difficult struggles on the road to recovery? How did you overcome these?
Really just teaching myself to shoot with my left eye. I still shoot right handed and I’ve always shot with both eyes open so the transition hasn’t been too difficult. I go into some great detail in the cover article of the June issue of Petersens Bowhunting, so I guess folks will just have to buy a copy to read my new setup! I’m hitting pie plates consistently at 100 yards and my vision in my left eye is better now than it was before the accident. I guess it compensated for the loss of vision in my right eye and has forced me to focus on the shot more. As for rifle shooting…well, anytime you mount a Leupold scope on a Savage rifle loaded with the Big Red H, all you have to do is think where you want to hit the animal and squeeze the trigger. Best product in the world and I couldn’t do this with anything less than the best…that’s not a pitch, it’s a FACT. Those factory workers make my job look easy and I need them now more than ever. I’m very grateful for everything they do.
Recently you made your first appearance back at the NRA national convention. Are there any other appearances that you will be making in the future?
I’ve got a few scheduled in August here in Texas and one in September up with my good friends at Kittery Trading Post in Maine. I always love doing appearances because that’s where I get to give back to those who support me by tuning in on Sunday nights on Sportsman Channel. With the accident, we’ve got some making up to do on the production schedule, so I’m taking a break from appearances for the next couple months to focus on filming. If this were a deer hunting show, I’d have all spring and summer to recover, but it’s not and I can’t. The great thing is that the pigs reward me by giving me equal opportunity access 24/7/365. I reward them by making award-winning television.
What would you want to tell your fans, or any individual who has been in an accident, and is trying to recover like you have?
Point blank, there is no excuse to quit doing something you love. Even before the accident, I’d spend time with soldiers who were double amputees or paralyzed.
I saw a guy shooting his bow with his teeth one time, another with his toes. You really have to ask yourself, “man, if that was me, I don’t know if I’d be able to do it.” I’m in no way comparable to those soldiers and what I went through can’t hold a flame to an IED in a foreign warzone, but I’ve got to be honest with folks about my own personal experience. After the accident, for the first 24-48 hours, there was a period where I felt sorry for myself laying in the hospital bed in the dark with all the machines beeping.
I had convinced myself that it was over, that I couldn’t feel my face and I looked like hell. My career was done…everything I’d built for the last 10 years was gone. I made my living in front of a camera and people wouldn’t stand how I looked.
Then, once I hit an emotional rock bottom, I realized there is only one direction to go. I looked around and everyone was pulling for me. Little kids were making signs and sending support videos. Industry friends and fellow show hosts were encouraging me. My team was all in. The people I love hadn’t changed. The people that loved me hadn’t changed and so I shifted gears into not wanting to let them down. Then once I got home from the trauma center, I got pissed off. I struggled with the fact that I couldn’t hunt, or fly, or go to ATA or SHOT and see my sponsors and my fans. I turned it into motivation to become a better archer or marksman with my condition.
That’s my story. It’s not over yet, but that’s where I’m at right now. I’m doing everything I can to come back stronger than ever and prove that I still belong here. I worked too hard to get to the top for an icy road and a 7800 lb. Excursion to knock me back down.
I’ve got the best team, fans, and sponsors on the planet and the Pig is here to stay.
With your show, Pigman The Series on the sportsman channel, will you be making any new episodes in the future?
I’m back. Animals will die. Count on it. As for the air schedule, viewers will have noticed by my condition on camera this past week that my interview sets within the show have been filmed since the accident.
I took a short time off to heal and recover and it was straight back to work in between surgeries and doctor visits. There will be a 2-part special on Sportsman Channel entitled “Pigman Rising” coming up June 7 and June 14 2015 at 8 p.m. ET on Sportsman Channel that will detail the accident and my road to recovery. Everything after that will continue to be new, original content. I’ve got a good feeling about this season. We’ve got some great hunts and destinations lined up that fans will love.
The Pigman is on the road to recovery please be on the lookout for his show Pigman: The Series, and the upcoming special “Pigman Rising” coming up June 7 and June 14 at 8 p.m. ET on Sportsman Channel.
For more information regarding Brian “Pigman” Quaca Please visit: