Distinctly Montana Magazine

22 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 3 Dazed, Hank Jr. was nevertheless able to choke out a few words, trying to reassure them that he was fine. But he could tell from their reaction that something was horribly wrong, and so he asked what it was. Dick told him that it was a broken nose, that's all, but that he shouldn't move. At that point, according to Living Proof, "Dick has decisions to make." One of them is to collect the bits of Hank Williams's brain that have fallen out of the cleft in his forehead and push them back into his cranium. There was nothing he could do for Williams's eye, which was hanging out of its socket. As for the flesh of his face, he could only affix the shreds of it back onto his skull roughly where they should have been and wrap his T-shirt around Hank's head. The 1983 TV movie Living Proof, filmed after Hank Jr. had become a huge star in his own right, is necessarily san- itized. Richard Thomas, best known as John-Boy Walton on The Waltons, does a capa- ble enough job of conveying the queasy panic of the mo- ment that Hank lost his foot- ing, but the film's portrayal of the accident itself pales in comparison to the horror of the actual incident. When Dick and Walt reach Williams's body, for in- stance, his face is decorously blocked from view by foli- age. But then, the safe-keeping of the network standards and practices department would never have allowed a depiction of the breadth of Hank Williams Jr.'s full inju- ries. Viewers would have lost their lunch; hell, the makeup guys might not have been able to capture it had they been allowed to do so. Dick reached him first, and according to Hank's telling he didn't say anything, just stared. Walt, reaching him lat- er after picking his way down the slope, began screaming. Dick pulled Walt aside. Walt was still understandably bad- ly shaken from having seen something that no one expects to—or should—see. Dick told him that he'd have to stay with Williams while Dick went for help. Walt protested, telling his father he couldn't, please, no. But if Williams was to have a chance at survival, however slim, it would have to be this way. Dick was faster and more able, and he wouldn't risk his son's safety. As he parted, he told his son to talk to Hank and make sure he didn't lose consciousness. Dick began to hike out, and eventually reached park ranger Ed Brown, who sent for help. Williams had to be carried a quar- ter mile down the mountain before he could reach a part of the mountain accessible by helicopter. From beginning to end, it was some six hours after the accident before Hank Williams Jr. arrived at the hospital in Missoula. WHEN DICK AND HIS SON WALT REACHED HIS BODY, they couldn't believe he was still alive. As for the flesh of his face, DICK COULD ONLY AFFIX THE SHREDS OF IT BACK ONTO HIS SKULL ROUGHLY WHERE THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN AND WRAP HIS T-SHIRT AROUND HANK'S HEAD.

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