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A 51-year-old hunter was knocked unconscious after a dead Canada goose fell from the sky and hit him near the Miles River in Maryland.

Robert Meilhammer was struck by the goose after it was shot by someone in his hunting party early Thursday evening, the Washington Post reported.

He was airlifted to a shock trauma unit in Baltimore with a severe head injury.

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Meilhammer was lucky that he was not hunting alone, officials told CBS Baltimore, as his hunting companions were able to get him to a nearby road and seek help.

“These birds weigh anywhere from 10 to probably 14 pounds. They can have a wingspan of up to six feet,” Candy Thomson, public information officer for Maryland Natural Resources Police, told CBS. “So, if they’re 35 yards up in the air, and they’re falling 60 feet and they hit you in the head, it’s going to definitely cause severe damage.”

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Meilhammer was said to be in stable condition and recovering in the trauma unit as of Friday night.

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