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Chapter Five: Peggy Lathan - The Woman Who May Have Saved Ole Anderson’s Life
#PWHS #Interview #OleAnderson #AndersonBrothers #GCW #MACW #JCP #Crockett
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Question 1
It is my pleasure to speak to “Hall of Fame” Mid-Atlantic fan Peggy Lathan. I was doing some research about tragedies that took place to Pro Wrestlers and I came across how Peggy was involved in one of the most notable stories concerning tragedies. Thank you Peggy for taking a few moments to help us relive the trauma that was attached to a shocking event in Mid-Atlantic history.
Did you see the matches that night as a paying fan?
Answer
Yes - always. Tickets were only like $3.50 back then. We nearly had a heart attack when they hiked it up to $5.00! LOL…Like I said, my mom and grandmother and I went to the matches about four times a week – Greenville on Monday, Anderson on Thursday, Spartanburg on Saturday and Asheville on Sunday. We even went back when they ran Asheville on Wednesday nights. OOOPS – I’m giving away my age!
Question 2
The night was May 24, 1976. The place was the Greenville Memorial Auditorium in Greenville, South Carolina. The main event saw Mr Wrestling and Dino Bravo defeat Gene & Ole Anderson to retain the World Tag Titles. Do you have any memories of the main event that night?
Answer
I had a front row seat every Monday, and I don’t remember specifics about the match, but it was a fight to the very end, as most Anderson matches were back then. They left you begging for more – couldn’t wait until the next week. Once the match was over, I and my two friends would take off to the back so we could say goodbye to Ole and Gene. They parked inside the Memorial Auditorium and we could only see them drive out.
Question 3
Where were you located after the main event was completed? What did you see happen as the Andersons were on their way to the locker room?
Answer
My friends and I were in the back of the Auditorium where the steps went down into the dressing rooms. I didn’t see the stabbing, but I remember Gene came by and said “OLE GOT STABBED (!) ”, and went on down to the dressing room. Then I saw Ole come through holding his chest and blood was running down his chest, legs and onto the floor.
Question 4
There were stories that the usual security officers were off that night, do you know if that was true?
Answer
All I remember that the policemen who were there that night took him past the dressing room stairs and through a door, which led to the back entrance to the Auditorium. My friend was a nursing student at Clemson, so when they got Ole seated on a bench, her training just kicked in to save a life.
Question 5
What was your involvement in rescuing Ole?
Answer
We tried to get Ole to lie down – he wouldn’t do it. He wanted to sit up. He was in shock and babbling a mile a minute. I went to get ice from the concession stand up front. Somewhere there were some towels, so we put ice in the towels and kept pressure on his chest. He was cut diagonally from right to left. After a while, the bleeding stopped at his chest, but the cut was about an inch deep so it was laid open and we tried to keep him from looking at it. If he hadn’t been so massive in his chest, it could have seriously caused some damage. As it was, the worst of the bleeding was just above his waist on the left side, where there wasn’t so much muscle and tissue, and his left hand. When the knife came down, it cut through a tendon. I put my foot up on the bench and applied pressure to his hand elevating it to try to stop the bleeding. I had blood all over myself and ended up having to throw away my clothes…As I said, he was in shock. Gene came out where he was. He kept telling Gene to get his watch and he thought that the knife had got his heart. He doesn’t remember this at all, but I’ll never forget it.
Question 6
What took place from the ambulance coming to pick up Ole?
Answer
The man who stabbed Ole was about 80 years old. Ole punched him and knocked him down. When the ambulance came, they laid him on the stretcher and took him out the back door. They tried to put the old man in the same ambulance with Ole, but you can imagine, Ole DID NOT want that man in there with him. I did not see him being put in the ambulance. Gene asked where they were taking him, and they told him, and of course, he had no idea how to get there. So I rode with Gene to the ER. Gene was driving like a maniac in that huge 1976 Cadillac, going the wrong way down one way streets, but it was late at night so we made it to the ER in record time!
Question 7
Do you know how many stitches Ole had and what injuries he had suffered? Did Ole allow them to admit him?
Answer
I waiting in the ER with Gene until Ole was released at about 2am. Gene would keep going back to where they had Ole, but I never went. Gene must have smoked 3 packs of cigarettes. He would keep me updated and after they got his chest stitched up, he said that they had to call a doctor who had what looked to him like a crochet needle and was going up in his wrist to find the tendon so they could sew it back together. Gene couldn’t stand to watch it. LOL Ole said he had over 200 stitches. After seeing that cut, I don’t doubt it. They had to do stitches on the inside of the wound, as well as on the outside, because as I said, it was laid open about 2” wide…It was raining that night and when Gene went to get the car, Ole was standing out in the rain. The nurse asked him if he wanted to come inside out of the rain, and his retort was, “No thanks. I haven’t had a shower tonight anyway.”
Question 8
How long did Ole stay out of wrestling?
Answer
Not sure – but I do know he was back in Greenville the next Monday night. And busted out some stitches in his chest.
Question 9
Are there any other facts, memories about this incident that you would like to share with our many readers?
Answer
Ole is a very special friend of mine. I’ve known him for many years. Every year I go down and take him a birthday cake and we have a little party, sometimes including his children. I remember the first time I talked to him was in Anderson, SC. He was out back playing tennis. I was outside waiting to go into the matches as the Civic Center was not air conditioned. He came over and sat down beside me and asked me my name, where I was from, etc. It was the first time I had talked to a “bad guy”. I remember telling him he was lousy at playing tennis. LOL. Oh, I’ve had my arguments with him, also. But I usually just let him bluster and ignore him. He’s been a great friend for a long time.
Terry Kent
Thank you Peggy for a very informative interview. We sure have gotten to see sides of your good friend Ole that many have never known.
This happened on Monday night and lasted into the early hours of Tuesday. The record shows Ole returned to TV just two days later as WRAL Raleigh recorded for upcoming TV, saying a few knife wounds wouldn’t keep an Anderson down. One Monday night later he and Gene wrestled Mr Wrestling & Dino Bravo for the belts unsuccessfully. Then the following Monday Ole would return to Greenville, just two weeks after his serious stabbing. To put closure to this inspiring story, three weeks later the Andersons would win the tag titles in the very same building.
To those who believe in “what you sow, you reap later”, it is interesting to note that Ole acts as a “knight in shining armor” saving three females from being stranded in a metropolitan parking lot at night TWICE. Then, a few years later, 1 of those same females played a major part in the possible saving of his life. I believes it gives us all something to meditate about.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Interview with Peggy Latham: Part Two.
Interviewer: Terry Kent.
Published: 2014.
Fan Interview: #5.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Updated: March 26, 2019.
Interview with Peggy Latham: Part Two.
Interviewer: Terry Kent.
Published: 2014.
Fan Interview: #5.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Updated: March 26, 2019.
An interview with Peggy Latham: Part One - Read Here.
Other interviews on the #PWHS website can be Read Here.