Man with 12 nails in his head

Monday, April 24, 2006
08:18 PM
don't try this at home

Man with 12 nails in his head: "David Pescovitz:
An Oregon man suffering from a terrible headache went to a hospital for an examination. Turns out he had 12 nails in his head. And he had put them there himself. From the Associated Press:

The man at first told doctors he had had a 'nail gun accident.' It wasn't until later that the patient admitted he'd used meth and the injury was a suicide attempt.



The patient was in remarkably good condition when he got to OHSU, according to the study. While even one nail to the head can be fatal, these nails came close to major blood vessels and the brain stem but did not pierce either.



The nails still posed a threat to the patient's health and doctors decided to operate quickly. Because of the number of nails, doctors decided to fully sedate him rather than keep him partially awake, which is done in some surgeries to monitor neurological responses.



Surgeons were able to remove the nails with needle-nosed pliers and a drill because the nail heads did not penetrate the skull.

Link

UPDATE: BB reader Jason Gill recalled that the 2001 Darwin Awards honored another gent who shot himself a dozen times in the head with a nail gun and lived. Link

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(Via Boing Boing.)