Here's a quote from an article by Russel Thornberry:
"Hunters are often mystified by the distance their game travels after being hit with a lethally placed arrow. The sharpness factor plays a big role here. I have seen white-tailed deer survive center lung shots, and in one case, even a center heart shot, because the broadheads used weren’t shaving sharp. You may think that I’m assuming that those heart- and lung-shot deer survived, but I’m not. In the case of the center lung-shot animal, it was killed by an automobile two years after it was shot through the lungs with a dull broadhead. The broadhead and 10 inches of the shaft were still in the buck, positioned right in the center of his lungs. His wound had healed completely, and he seemed to be in otherwise perfect health when the car hit and killed him. He was butterball fat, too. The heart-shot doe was shot later by a rifle hunter, also two years after an arrow passed through the center of her heart. She too was healthy and fat, showing no evidence of ills due to the 6-inch section of aluminum shaft still in the center of her heart. In both cases, dull broadheads failed to do their jobs. There was minimal hemorrhaging, and both animals survived. Shot placement is critical in bowhunting, but unless your broadhead is shaving sharp, a perfectly placed arrow may not get the job done."
The article is available through the buckmasters web site, and every bowhunter on the planet should read it. I am not accusing Burnie of using a dull broadhead, but maybe the style of broadhead was a factor here. I also make this post to give readers an idea of what a whitetail is capable of. Is it possible that Burnie's arrow carried some material such as fat or hair into the wound channel, partially sealing the plumbing leaks?