DIY dill shoots nail into brain
By Sue Hewitt
March 7, 2004

BRAD Shorten admits he is a fool who is lucky to be alive.

He was skylarking with mates over a few beers and took what he thought was an empty nail gun and pointed it at his head.

The Victorian father of three fired a 3.2cm nail through his skull into his brain, just behind his temple.

A centimetre deeper and Mr Shorten, 33, could have been dead or paralysed.

The Sunbury bricklayer's labourer thought the firing mechanism had glanced his skin, leaving a small red dot, not realising the nail had been counter-sunk into his skull.

Mr Shorten said he had used the nail gun to install wall panelling in his home, but had turned off the compressor and removed the nail cartridge.

"My mates and I were talking about construction site accidents and taking your eye out with a nail gun, and I foolishly put the gun to my head and pulled the trigger," he said.

Although the compressor was disconnected, there was still pressure in the hose and it shot the nail into his skull.

"The nail was recessed into the skull, just like it is recessed into the timber," he said.

Mr Shorten had minimal pain, but started to feel light headed. His son, Nathan, 13, insisted on calling an ambulance.

"At hospital the pain got worse, and I was getting frustrated so I asked (nurses) for a pair of pliers to pull it out myself," he said.

That would have been the worst thing to do, according to Dr Kevin Siu, a Royal Melbourne Hospital neurosurgeon.

Dr Siu said there was a risk that removing the nail would cause a blood vessel to hemorrhage, possibly causing death.

The surgeon said had the nail been a centimetre deeper or had it been angled backwards, Mr Shorten risked a stroke, permanent brain damage or paralysis.

In a four-hour operation, a specialist team took a part of his skull off and removed the nail.

Mr Shorten said he was recovering from surgery and was expected to make a full recovery.

"I did a very stupid thing," he said.

The Victorian Injury Surveillance and Applied Research unit has found a growing trend of people, mainly men, injuring themselves doing stunts or tricks. In the six years to December 2002, 82 people suffered such injuries.

Sunday Herald Sun

 

Huh maybe 1cm deeper and this guy would have been a canidate for the Darwin award

 

**snicker** Yeah.. Not sure the gene pool can afford to have this one walking around contributing to it. Definitely a taco shy of a combination platter.

 

good thing he wasn't at a firing range. I worked in construction for a couple years when I was younger, and sooner or later your gonna take a nail but usually in the hands or feet not head.... I would say lesson learnt by all....... but I think we all knew that one anyway. OUCH!!!

 

Reminds me of a something that happened here a while back. Two guys were climbing down a scaffold and the second guy had a nail gun in his hand. As they neared the bottom the first guy was standing on the ground, the second guy bumped the first in the head with the gun. They thought nothing about it until the first guy went to take his hat off. Turned out the hat was NAILED to his head. The nail went right between the lobes of his brain and there was no problem getting it removed at the hospital.
Tom

 

Maybe i should start a poll... But how many of us generally carry our nail guns around by the trigger or with your finger near the trigger? Kinda liek playing russian roulette with M60 or something....a bad idea in general...

 

So far none of you have commented on the obvious in this story. DO NOT DRINK AND THEN TRY AND USE POWER TOOLS.

 

Well, not everyone is smart when they're sober. Everyone I've known who injured himself with a power tool was sober when he did it. None of them were being careful. All had lost a healthy respect for the danger involved, which they quickly regained. I don't know anybody who has hurt himself badly more than once with a power tool.

 

What wanna said. You work with them all day and forget they can kill you. Guy one time put a nail gun to my leg (no nails in the cartridge) and pulled the trigger. Hurt like heck, he didn't think that when the nails were counter sunk the hammer came out about 3/16". If I didn't hit the ground in pain I would have sunk my hammer into his hardhat. Another guy shot in the knee (did to himself) Doctor used vice grips to pull it out. Ouch. Be careful guys.

 

I saw one fella trying to reach over a piece of OSB (particle board) and shoot a nail through the OSB and sink it into a 2x6 at about crotch level. He missed the 2x6 and the nail shot through the OSB. OUCH!!!

 

I agree with Mexstan. The smart ones usually won't crack the beers open until AFTER they have already "rolled up". His son should have said "Here's your sign".

 

I know how dangerous I am with the old fashioned hammer . My thumb probably would like the air nail gun better though

 

I use nail guns all day long for 17 yrs, and Ive shot myself a few times, usually from having my hands to close to the gun and the nail hitting a knot and deflecting sideways. 3" nalis hurt like hell!! But the trim guns are the worst. They hit a hard grain and bend all the time . Have to carry pliers when you trim alot.
I did almost kill my dad with a gun a few years ago. we were setting a girder in a garage ceiling and I was up on an 8' ladder on my way down, the old man came up from under the ladder with a 2x for a post and I swung the gun down alongside my hip but his head was in the way. blood everywhere! I thought I shot him with the gun but just scrapped a chunk of skin off his nose. Talk about scared s***less!! Thank god I did not have my finger on the trigger!

 

Reminds me of Sisera in the Old Testament. Got his temple nailed with a tent spike. Judges 4:21
Nat

 

Or a nomination for the Dem Pres ticket!!