Unknown country or cause of death, expected to possibly be snake bite. Local Las Vegas SCI chapter person?

Anyword out there?

It is true. He died at a B&B in Harare. He had been ill in camp for 5 days. They took him back to Harare. He was to fly home the next day.At 7:30 AM they took him coffee. They went back to get him for breakfast and found hum dead. As I recall his name was Rance Spurlock. He has been hunting in Makuti.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
It is true. He died at a B&B in Harare. He had been ill in camp for 5 days. They took him back to Harare. He was to fly home the next day.At 7:30 AM they took him coffee. They went back to get him for breakfast and found hum dead. As I recall his name was Rance Spurlock . He has been hunting in Makuti.

I hope the name is incorrect. Rance is a great guy. I bought a rifle from him in Vegas and spent the day with him looking at all of his trophies (he was going for the North American 29, only short a polar bear) and have kept in pretty constant contact since.

Worst news I've heard in a while. I'm physically ill.

Greg

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
It is true. He died at a B&B in Harare. He had been ill in camp for 5 days. They took him back to Harare. He was to fly home the next day.At 7:30 AM they took him coffee. They went back to get him for breakfast and found hum dead. As I recall his name was Rance Spurlock. He has been hunting in Makuti.

Dam!!! He is a good friend and gun shop owner in Vegas. I was shooting a .22 Hornet I bought from him yesterday evening!

May be absolutely unrelated but the Makuti area is the area where there has been a resurgence in the incidence of trypanosomiasis. I know personally of two people that had the disease and contracted it in the Makuti area. Both damn near died but for aggressive treatment over a period of weeks. Again, could be completely unrelated but when I heard the area mentioned that was my initial thought.

Mike:

That is what the PH thought the client had. I assume there will ultimately be an answer.

A few years ago we had a friend who got this, and we never realized it because he did not show any of the symptoms.

He was on low blood pressure medication, and he felt very week and unable to eat

We thought his blood pressure was playing up.

On the way back to Dar, he had to be put on oxygen, and we radioed ahead to have an ambulance with a medical team ready at the airport.

They had the ambulance come to the airplane, and the medic insisted that he takes him to a hospital on the spot.

He did not want to go to hospital in Dar, and insisted on flying with us to Dubai to go to a hospital there.

But the medic was absolutely adamant that he should be in hospital as soon as possible.

We arranged for him to be looked after, and in the hospital they discovered he had sleeping sickness.

The only medicine available was in Arusha!

Alan was called, he got the medicine, but could not find a plane to take it to Dar.

He met a crew from KLM, and managed to persuade them to take it.

The doctors in Dar recommended that he flies to Nairobi for better treatment.

He was flown to Nairobi, and remained there for a while being treated.

He got better and flew back to the US.

He was absolutely amazed at the fantastic treatment he got at both hospitals.

We now know that if he got sick on the flight to Dubai, he might not have made it.

As I am sure they have no medication for sleeping sickness here.

In any case, he had the best treatment.

Is there anything that one can take to prevent getting sleeping sickness?

got an e-mail from the outfitter saying it was malaria

There is no preventive medicine for sleeping sickness.

Use plenty of bug repellent, and hope you don't get bit by a fly carrying it.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Is there anything that one can take to prevent getting sleeping sickness?

You 'could' use Pentamidine , but it's use only protects against one of the two protozoa that cause sleeping sickness. And it has it own list of nasty side effects and problems, so prophylactic use is not recommended. Only thing you can do is general insect protection against tsetse flies.

quote:

Originally posted by tom ferry:
got an e-mail from the outfitter saying it was malaria

Sure does not sound like malaria to me. Malaria is a killer for sure, but it would be shocking that an outfitter would not recognize the symptoms of malaria and start the client on a treatment regime. Who was the outfitter?

see post on Jannie Otto hunting safaris

quote:

Originally posted by MJines:

quote:

Originally posted by tom ferry:
got an e-mail from the outfitter saying it was malaria

Sure does not sound like malaria to me. Malaria is a killer for sure, but it would be shocking that an outfitter would not recognize the symptoms of malaria and start the client on a treatment regime. Who was the outfitter?

Mike, malaria can appear to be sorted with treatment and then come back with a vengeance a few days later. Certain strains are worse than others, and certain meds deal with particular strains better than others.

I am sorry to hear the bad news. From experience and from what we have heard he did not show all the signs of malaria and having been in Makuti for several years and seen my camerman and appy ( now Ph) get sleeping sickness I doubt that it was that or malaria as it takes time for the effects of both to show.

Also since Justin ( my camerman got it, and he was the first) there has been quite a few cases and as a result our medical staff are well aware of the threat of sleeping sickness and would have checked for it and treated it.

My suspicions is that it was a pre-existing condition unrelated to either sleep sickness or malaria. You will be surprised but our medical facilities in Zim are actually surprisingly good.

Aside from this discussion , condolences to family and friends- very sad indeed.

quote:

Originally posted by tom ferry:
see post on Jannie Otto hunting safaris

link????

Is there more sleeping sickness in makuti area than in other hunting areas of zimbabwe ?

Just got confirmation that it was Rance Spurlock.

https://www.facebook.com/jannieottohuntingsafaris


Attached link.

I hunted with PH who got sleeping sickness in Makuti several yars ago.

This is most tragic.
Our sincere condolences to all his family and friends here and abroad. RIP

That is horrible and sad news.

This is very sad to hear. We spoke at leanght about his trip one month ago. Despite being a very accomplished sportsman, this was his first trip to Africa . We had the opportunity to share the excitement of the planning stage of our first safari. He was a great supporter of hunting and shooting in the area. Condolences to his family and staff at the shop.

Condolences, sleeping sickness is far more prevalent in the Zambezi Valley than most people would like to think. The treatment itself is life threatening, I would choose Malaria any day over nagana!

A sad story, to be sure. Finally make that first trip to Africa and die of something like this.

Condolences to his famaly and staff.Terrible news.I was looking forward to seeing him again in August when he was coming up to hunt Muskox with us.Very sad.

Sad news. My condolences to family and friends.

I note that the link that Kathi provided above is to the outfitter's facebook page, and that the outfitter indicates that malaria was the cause of death.

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
Sad news. My condolences to family and friends.

I note that the link that Kathi provided above is to the outfitter's facebook page, and that the outfitter indicates that malaria was the cause of death.

I saw that as well. That seems suspect to me. Doesn't malaria take at least 2 weeks to start showing signs of having it? If my understanding is right (which might not be the case), it seems almost impossible unless he was infected immediately and hunted a while.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

quote:

Originally posted by Michael Robinson:
Sad news. My condolences to family and friends.

I note that the link that Kathi provided above is to the outfitter's facebook page, and that the outfitter indicates that malaria was the cause of death.

I saw that as well. That seems suspect to me. Doesn't malaria take at least 2 weeks to start showing signs of having it? If my understanding is right (which might not be the case), it seems almost impossible unless he was infected immediately and hunted a while.

Plus, if he started to show symptoms of malaria, like headaches or chills, seems like someone would have the presence of mind to suggest that he get checked or start a treatment regime.

Yup

It can take only 8 days from infection for symptoms to show...but ja, typically about 2 weeks.

http://www.nevadashooters.com/showthread.php?t=43265


On page 3 of attached link, final week of a four week safari.

What a tragedy. Seems like Rance was a well known and well thought of man.

Cerebral malaria.

Yes, I had been introduced to Rance abut 10 years ago, had had only heard rumor of his untimely demise when first posting this. Needless to say he was indeed a fine man and very positive influence on our sport.

We are diminished.

I just returned from Africa yesterday, but I heard of Rance's death while there. I have known him for eons. Rance was a member of our Desert Las Vegas SCI Chapter and on the executive board. He was generous with assistance and help at our annual chapter banquets and other functions. I have been in his gun shop in Henderson many times. I was sorry to hear of it. His untimely death should serve as a reminder to all of us not to ever take chances when something seems to be wrong! By the way, my Bucket List hunt with Charl van Rooyen of Infinito Safaris was a 100% screaming success! Shot Vaal Rhebok, Blue Duiker, Caracal, Cape Bushbuck, Oribi, Spotted Hyena, Serval, Bush Pig and Honey Badger. I will post a hunt report later on.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/c...lk-mourn-loss-friend


Local outdoors folk mourn loss of 'friend'




By C. DOUGLAS NIELSEN
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL


Downtown Henderson is home to one of those small businesses that are reminiscent of days gone by, days when customer service was a real part of doing business and not merely an advertising slogan. It is one of those places where people know your name, everyone is treated like a friend, and some folks drop by just to visit. Perhaps you have been there, too.

The first time I walked into Spurlock’s Gun Shop I was met by a friendly man with a ready smile, and it was apparent that there was nothing artificial about either one. Both the man and the smile were genuine. He introduced himself as Rance Spurlock and asked how he could help me.

Instead of buying one of his firearms, I asked Rance to sponsor an outdoor radio show I was producing at the time. Rather than showing me the door, he showed genuine interest in my endeavor. Then, after taking a few minutes to set this former game warden straight on a few things he didn’t like about some wildlife officers, Rance wrote me a check. That day a friendship was born, one that has far outlasted the radio show.

One day Rance called to tell me I needed to drop by the store to see photographs of a deer hunt he had been on with his very good friend and hunting partner, Tommy Ford. While it is not uncommon for a hunter to share pictures of his own hunt, I have met only a handful of hunters who are so excited about their friend’s success that they invite other friends to come and see the pictures. That says a lot about the man.

Even though his gun shop is not large by today’s standards, Rance’s influence in Southern Nevada’s hunting and conservation community is huge. Through the years he and his wife Pat have actively supported most, if not all, of the area’s conservation organizations, from the Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn to Wildlife and Habitat Improvement of Nevada to the Mule Deer Foundation and the local chapter of Safari Club International.

If you have purchased or won a gun at one of the local conservation banquets, chances are it was Spurlock’s that made it possible by facilitating the process and handling all the paperwork.

Unfortunately, men such as Rance often leave this earth far too early, leaving behind a giant hole where they once stood in their community and in the lives of their friends and loved ones. And so it is with Rance.

Last week, while in the final days of a four-week African safari, Rance fell ill and passed away. News of his death spread quickly through the hunting community, and with it stories of his goodness and contributions.

I stopped by the store and, as always, it was full of people. However, this time many were there to see what they could do for Pat and the Spurlock family, not the other way around. Some brought flowers and others a simple expression of concern and condolences, but it was Pat who was doing the consoling.

As one might imagine, the process of bringing Rance home from Africa has not been an easy one, making an already difficult time even more so. Pat said a memorial service will be held, but plans can’t be finalized until Rance makes it back to Henderson.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Pat and the whole staff at the gun shop,” wrote Jelindo Tiberti to members of the Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn, “At 55 years young Rance was doing something he enjoyed very much. A great member of the community and friend will be missed.”

Yes, he will.

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His “In the Outdoors” column, published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions he states in his column are his own. He can be reached at intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com.

Condolences to friends and family.

Has there been any confirmation as to the cause of death? Big difference between malaria and sleeping sickness.

Thanks Kathi for the tie to the RJ article by Doug. I got home from Africa a day after it was published and had not seen it.

My most deepest condolences for his Family and Friends.

I was told today that the preliminary findings of the autopsy point towards cerebral malaria. Yes...he was on prophylaxis...not sure which one at this time. Toxicology and some histopathology still pending.