Washington, Feb. 16 (Reuters): Vice-president Dick Cheney took the blame yesterday for accidentally shooting a friend while bird hunting and said it was “one of the worst days of my life”, but he dismissed concerns he waited too long to make it public.

Under pressure from Democrats and some Republicans to break his silence about his Saturday shooting of 78-year-old Texas lawyer Harry Whittington, Cheney described the incident to the Fox News Channel in dramatic fashion.

“The image of him falling is something that I’ll never be able to get out of my mind. I fired and there’s Harry falling. And it was ... one of the worst days of my life at that moment,” Cheney said.

Whittington suffered a minor heart attack on Tuesday due to birdshot lodged near his heart. Doctors treating him in Corpus Christi, Texas, said his heartbeat had returned to normal.

Cheney said he himself was to blame. “You can talk about all of the other conditions that existed at the time, but that’s the bottom line. You can’t blame anybody else,” Cheney said. “Ultimately, I’m the guy who pulled the trigger and shot my friend.”