2016 - A HEART for hunting

November 15, 2016 • Voyageur Press

This fall, the Tamarack hunter celebrated a significant milestone in his recovery by harvesting a pair of impressive bucks, including a trophy 8-pointer he had long hoped to take.

On Veterans Day, Johnson harvested a 187-pound, 8-point buck that he described as a dream come true.

“This is, by far, one of the best deer I’ve had the opportunity to shoot,” Johnson said. “I like 8-pointers, and to finally get a big, heavy one like that was definitely on my bucket list.”

“He is a pretty amazing animal. I was stoked to get him,” he added.

The hunt itself was relatively uneventful, and Johnson knew he had caught a lucky break.

“He came out at 150 yards, and I got on him right away, but he proceeded to come right to me,” Johnson said. “If he would have turned and gone the other way, I wouldn’t have got a shot at him, and it would have been heartbreak city.”

The word “heartbreak” carries special meaning for Johnson and his family after a frightening series of medical emergencies that began in March 2015.

On March 6, 2015, Johnson, then 38, collapsed while participating in his annual Wildland Firefighters pack test in Cloquet. He was initially taken to Cloquet Memorial Hospital before being transported by ambulance to Duluth, where he underwent 7½ hours of surgery to repair an aortic aneurysm.

Johnson survived the operation, which included replacing part of his aorta and inserting a mechanical heart valve.

But his medical ordeal was far from over.

Eight months later, on Nov. 21, 2015, Johnson collapsed again while in the woods during the final weekend of rifle season. His wife, Breanne, had just harvested her own deer.

“I still get emotional about that day,” Breanne said. “Initially, I was never going to hunt another day in my life. I was feeling guilty that I caused this to happen, until we found out that it was to be a blessing.”

Doctors determined that Johnson's second medical emergency was caused by a kink in his left main coronary artery. The incident sent him back to the hospital and eventually led to another operation at Mayo Clinic in Rochester on Jan. 11.

“That day put me back in the hospital and back toward a path to the Mayo Clinic,” Johnson said. “The Duluth hospital kicked around a few ideas of what to do and finally decided to move me along to specialized care.”

At Mayo Clinic, surgeons discovered another aortic dissection, a tear in the inner layer of the aortic wall. The procedure required removing the entire aortic arch and replacing it with a graft that included the vessels supplying blood to the head and arms.

“The first surgery in Duluth was just to save his life,” Breanne said. “I think there is like a 2% survival rate with this type of aneurysm. That’s how serious it was.”

Johnson was quick to credit the medical professionals who cared for him at both hospitals.

“That is a wonderful facility,” he said of Mayo Clinic. “We are so fortunate to have them in our back yard. What they were able to do with me down there was nothing short of amazing. I’m not taking anything away from Duluth, because they saved my life earlier.”

Johnson, who had been training at the Cloquet Ice Arena, also recognized how fortunate he was to receive emergency care close to home.

“I’m a lucky boy,” he said.

Nearly 11 months after his January surgery, Johnson reported that his recovery was progressing well. A follow-up appointment had gone smoothly, and he was focused on rebuilding his strength and endurance.

“Now I’m just in that recovery phase, getting myself back into shape,” he said.

Returning to hunting was an important goal, although regaining his strength took time.

“It took me a long time just to get back into shape so that I could draw my bow back,” Johnson said. “I just don’t have the muscles I had after two surgeries during the past year and a half.”

Earlier in the fall, he traveled to Illinois with a friend and harvested a beautiful 8-point buck. For Breanne, seeing her husband draw his bow again was a victory in itself.

“That was amazing,” she said. “Just the fact that he could pull the bow back.”

The Johnsons have two young children, Hudson, 3, and Bristol, 1. Breanne was 11 weeks pregnant with Bristol when Rob's medical ordeal began, and their daughter was just a month old when he experienced his second collapse.

Although Bristol is still too young to join the family hunting tradition, Hudson is already eager to follow in his father's footsteps.

“Hudson actually told Bre that he was going to eat all his dinner, because he wanted to be an adult so he could go hunt,” Johnson said.

Hudson has already joined his father and grandfather on a hunt, helping pull the deer out of the woods. He even has his own box stand, although Johnson makes sure his son stays in a safe location.

“He comes out and he has his own box stand,” Johnson said. “That night I was hunting in a ladder stand, and it is too high and not safe for him.”

Hunting has long been a family tradition for Johnson and his relatives, who have enjoyed many successful seasons together.

“We have a pretty robust group, and we’ve shot some nice deer over the years,” he said.

This year, however, Johnson's impressive buck represented more than another successful hunt. It marked another step toward reclaiming the life and activities he loves after an exceptionally difficult year.

“It’s been quite a wild ride,” he said.

“It was a very scary time,” Breanne added. “When you are in the middle of it, all you can do is stay positive.”

Johnson praised his wife for carrying much of the burden while he recovered.

“She did a great job,” he said. “All I’ve had to do is get better. She’s had to take care of me, two young kids and our dog. We also had wonderful support from friends and family. It is unbelievable how kind and charitable people are when you are up against it.”

“Thank God for our parents, too,” Breanne added. “They really came through.”



Now, with his health improving and a bucket-list buck to show for his return to the woods, Johnson is beginning to feel like himself again.

“It’s been an amazing week,” he said. “The election and then that big buck on Veterans Day!”