Ep. 451: Shot in the Back - The Jason Dean Story

This episode of Bear Grease tells the harrowing true story of Jason Dean, a 17-year-old from North Georgia who survived a near-fatal gunshot wound from a .270 rifle fired by a guest at his family's deer camp on December 26, 1990. The incident occurred under bizarre and tragic circumstances: Dave Reese, a 35-year-old man with no prior hunting experience on the property, mistook Jason’s bright orange hunting vest for a deer while scanning a 120-yard field from a fence line. The bullet entered Jason’s back, passed through his left lung, and exited under his arm—narrowly missing his heart. Despite massive internal bleeding, Jason remained conscious and experienced a vivid out-of-body vision of a river and his deceased grandmother, which he says gave him the will to fight. The story unfolds through interviews with Jason, his brother Ricky, and first responders, revealing a chain of miraculous events: a lack of ambulance service in the remote county, a payphone call made by a troubled but heroic stranger named Richard Williams, a broken-down ambulance that miraculously restarted, and a father’s desperate prayer that seemed to sustain hope. Jason survived against all odds, spending 14 days in the hospital and later reuniting with the paramedic who saved him over 30 years later. The episode explores themes of faith, forgiveness, and the fragility of life, culminating in a powerful message about grace, redemption, and the unseen forces that shape human destiny.