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The driver of a pickup that crashed through a fence and damaged the high school baseball field last week was in the throws of a serious heart problem, the Star learned later.

Driver Phil Grunlose, 82, told an officer who pulled him over that he thought he was having a heart attack.

Grunlose’s surgically implanted defibrillator was shocking him throughout the incident, according to the police report, which caused Grunlose to jerk the wheel to the right and drive through the fence as he was driving through the parking lot.

While the policeman spoke to Grunlose, his defibrillator continued to shock him, and the officer called for an ambulance, which took Grunlose to Coulee Medical Center.

Grunlose’s wife called The Star on Thursday to object to the use of the word “vandalism” in the deadline report printed last week and said he was still in the hospital at that time. He no longer was at press time Tuesday.