Other friends were not surprised at his death. "I wasn't surprised," said George Stranahan, a former owner of the Woody Creek Tavern, a favourite haunt of Thompson. "I never expected Hunter to die in a hospital bed with tubes coming out of him." Neighbours have said how his broken leg had prevented him from leaving his house as often as he had liked to. One neighbour and long-standing friend, Mike Cleverly, said Thompson was clearly hobbled by the broken leg. "Medically speaking, he's had a rotten year."
The Woody Creek Tavern is owned by George Stranahan.