BULLET IN HEART

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 24, 29 January 1934, Page 14

BULLET IN HEART

BOER WAR VETERAN DEATH AFTER 30 YEARS •'•'iTliree remarkable Bobr War incidents, twp of which were linked together,, arc recalled ■by the.ideath'-. in t Napier.'.ycsterdayiofiMr. Andrew Gcarheart Peterson, a-member of the' staff of the Customs Department, states n local correspondent. Mr. Petcrsenicarned1.-a measure of distinction by reasoit-of,'tho fact that he lived moro than 30 years after receiving a bullet wound in the heart, and being labelled by doctors a doomed man. . , When the Boer War broke out Mr. Pctcrsen, nvas.a'yoiing man,;anil n lie; went- to. South Africa when .only V. IS years of age. He was known as a daring soldier, and it was his disregard for risks that eventually found him a prisoner, v He won his liberty again in spectacular fashion^ involving two outstanding incidents. Working unremittingly for two weeks, he dug a< tunnel nearly 200 yards long, by which ho was ablo to leavo the prison; camp.' It was a daring undertaking, and .-more than once-before;he had-'finished the tunnel he almost exposed himsolf to detection. The second episode followed immediately after ho got away from the prison camp. As ho crawled across.the ground in his escape ho. was shot in the-upper and rear part of the thigh. The bullet fortunatelylnflictcd phly a flesh, wound, and Mr. Peterson was able to take.to his feet and-run, .'.eventually getting c'leaiv His escape was "the beginning of a long and painful- trek. ■ Trudging day and njgjtt for > two .weeks, he covered nearly 200 miles before he reached the British lines and safety. It was on ihis return; to service that ho suffered the wound in his heart. The bullet pierced,the pericardium, and: the wound so- weakened-.'•■him that. ho«.wVs invalided "home, though doctors made no secret of their belief that he would never reach New Zealand. Nevertheless, he was still alive when the transport got to tho Dominion, and for another; 30 i years;, he lived -mv Napier, spending, 22-years in the'service-.of tho Customs Department. . /■■ Mr. Peterson was regarded in his work as .most .efficient, and: was. held jn respefet'ndt'oniy'as but also "as a man of extremely fine and likeable disposition. , He was a great animal lover. ■''■'.'. Mr.' Peterson, who was 54 years of age, is survived by his • widow. He was the son of Captain and Mrs. Peterson, of Wellington. ' ;