Patricio Salas,world known Chilean guide brutally attacked

Dear friends:
A couple of days ago, world known Chilean flyfisher and guide Patricio (Pato) Salas was cowardly attacked by some poachers he confronted while patrolling the Allipen river in Chile. Patricio has spent countless hours teaching and educating the general population about conservation of the natural resouces. Locally he is known as the "guardian of the Allipen's river chinooks".
As it turns out, Patricio came across some poachers that were spearing chinooks and removing their eggs. When confronted, the cowards brutally attacked Patricio and struck him with a blunt object causing severe head trauma.
At present, Patricio is in critical condition in the Temuco (Chile) hospital fighting for his life, as of yet, the prognosis is uncertain, family members state that early reports indicate he will suffer some memory loss along with the loss of speech, the possibility also exists he might lose mobility on one side of his body. Assuming he pulls through, he will face endless hours of therapy, with the outcome to be determined, as only time will tell how he reacts to the therapy.
The Chilean (and international) flyfisher community is joined in doing all possible to assist the family (wife and one child) during these incredibly difficult times. Fundraising to assist the family has started and many members of the fraternity of flyfishers have stepped forth to contribute.
The sole intention of this post is to raise awareness of a very tragic situation one of our brothers faces, a fight for his life.
Patricio intervened when he came across a situation he knew was unacceptable, being true to his beliefs and morals prompted him to do the right thing, little did he know however that doing so would put his life at risk.
for those of you who have a facebook account and wish to join the support group do a search for :
LOS PESCADORES UNIDOS POR PATO SALAS
(FISHERMEN UNITED FOR PATRICIO SALAS)
the facebook page is in spanish, but feel free to add your comments, Patricio and his family will appreciate it.
If you wish you may invite all of your friends to join the support group as well.

Saltamontes

BTW, the local authorities have captured the perpetrators and our hope is that the judicial system will bring some type of justice to the family.

That's terrible. I wanted to respond with some heartfelt comments, but nothing I could say would compare to this atrocity.

Prayers for him and his family. Hopefully the suspects are convicted and spend the rest of their lives behind bars where they cannot harm other. Keep us in the loop, John.

Terror comes in many shapes and forms throughout the world. We'll pray for this brave comrade that he may be rewarded by returning to the sport he obviously loves.