Chuck Hughes - October 24, 1971

Greetings! Several months back, I used this wonderful forum to locate people who were in Tiger Stadium on October 24, 1971 - the day Chuck Hughes collapsed and died while playing for the Lions against the Chicago Bears. The response was amazing, and I gleaned several fascinating stories for my manuscript [[which I anticipate will be available by the fall of 2011). Well ... I'm back again. And I'm hoping someone here can help me tie up a loose end that has been bothering since I began working on this project three years ago.

On the day Chuck Hughes died, he was transported by ambulance from Tiger Stadium to Henry Ford Hospital. For no other reason than I am a stickler for detail, I have been trying to discover the name of that ambulance company. [[Not to affix blame, if that's what some are thinking. Simply to be all-encompassing in my research of this story.) I have tried ... literally … everyone I can think of. From archived records acquired from Ford Hospital [[the documentation I have simply reads: "Patient arrived via ambulance."); to a Ford Hospital historian; to any number of people associated with the Michigan Association of Ambulance Services; to witnesses [[including Chuck Hughes' widow; former Lions' trainer Kent Falb and former Detroit sportswriters Jerry Green and Pete Waldmeir, among others.); even the former Tiger Stadium manger, who is now well into his 80s and living in retirement in South Florida – and who doesn't have a clue as to that tiny detail.

Etc., etc., etc.

The best anyone has been able to guess is that the group at Tiger Stadium that day was associated with one of the many 'mom-and-pop' ambulance services that used to populate that part of town in those days - one that is probably long gone by now.

So ... all that being said ... this is truly my last chance saloon. Can anyone out there in the DetroitYES community help me with this issue? Does anyone know who the ambulance company was that day? Or ... better yet ... who the transport drivers were?

Again - this has NOTHING to do with attempting to afix blame in Chuck Hughes' death. He was, unfortunately, gone by the time the Lions' team doctors [[Edwin Guise and Richard Thompson) got to him on the field.

If you can help me, please drop me a line at JeffHaag@ImOnMail.com.

Thanks in advance!

Sorry, don't know that information but can the team help you? They may have that information in their files,

I don't have anything that can help you, just a personal memory to share. It was raining hard that day. My wife and had been shopping at the Pontiac Mall [[now Summit Place) and had just returned to the car. I had just turned the radio on, and we hadn't even made it out of the parking lot when it happened. After the play was over the announcer [[I think it was Van Patrick) commented that Chuck was down on the field and wasn't moving. A few seconds later he said Dick Butkus was standing over Chuck and yelling for the medical staff. That's when we knew it might be serious but had no idea how serious.

Can't help you with your specific query, but still one of the most haunting sounds I ever remember is the sound of the siren of that ambulance moving away down the street from the shocked and hushed crowd at Tiger Stadium.

You might try to find a Yellow Pages or city directory from that period and pull out some possibilities of area companies. I do remember that there was a red ambulance, of the extended Cadillac type used in those days, that would be parked by the bleacher field gate for Lions games.