Pad Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 LITTLETON, Colo. (AP) — A dentist found the source of the toothache Patrick Lawler was complaining about on the roof of his mouth: a four-inch nail the construction worker had unknowingly embedded in his skull six days earlier. A nail gun backfired on Lawler, 23, on Jan. 6 while working in Breckenridge, a ski resort town in the central Colorado mountains. The tool sent a nail into a piece of wood nearby, but Lawler didn't realize a second nail had shot through his mouth, said his sister, Lisa Metcalse. Following the accident, Lawler had what he thought was a minor toothache and blurry vision. On Wednesday, after painkillers and ice didn't ease the pain, he went to a dental office where his wife, Katerina, works. "We all are friends, so I thought the (dentists) were joking ... then the doctor came out and said 'There's really a nail,'" Katerina Lawler said. "Patrick just broke down. I mean, he had been eating ice cream to help the swelling." He was taken to a suburban Denver hospital, where he underwent a four-hour surgery. The nail had plunged 1 1/2 inches into his brain, barely missing his right eye, Metcalse said. Lawler was recovering Sunday in the hospital, where he was expected to spend several more days. "The doctors said, 'If you're going to have a nail in the brain, that's the way you want it to be,'" she said. "He's the luckiest guy, ever." Talk about weird and lucky at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiE23 Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 I think they just had a news thing on that guy on my news channel... weird. TiE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IG-64 Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Wow, a nail has to be going pretty fast to shoot through your mouth, past your eye, and 1 1/2 inches into your brain without knowing it. Need a shotgun? Nah, just use a nail gun. :Ornghair: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK-8252 Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 *Insert jaw drop here* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IG-64 Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Originally posted by TK-8252 *Insert jaw drop here* *inserts* What do I get? >_> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hermie Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 how is it possible to get a nail at that angle from a nail gun malfunction? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Windu Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Tilt your head back horizontally to where it is like a straight line. Open mouth and let nail fly through? That sucks! Holy hell! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kain Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 ...uh...wow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nerd_Annhilator Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 what a numbskull. >> Holy **** though.. I really wonder how people manage to NOT notice a nail stuck in their head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samuel Dravis Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 That's amazing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lassev Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Originally posted by Anthony I really wonder how people manage to NOT notice a nail stuck in their head. Actually, there isn't much to feel. The only place is the tissue of the mucous membrane in your mouth. Brain feels nothing at all, and probably not the stuff (bone and cartilage) that's between the mouth and the brain. So, it's easy actually to imagine why he though he had just a toothache, especially if he was startled when the nail gun misfired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt-Man Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 ooOOOOoooo mr, scientific. just kidding, but that is absolutly nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IG-64 Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Originally posted by lassev Actually, there isn't much to feel. The only place is the tissue of the mucous membrane in your mouth. Brain feels nothing at all, and probably not the stuff (bone and cartilage) *raises hand* I actually knew that Go me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jon_hill987 Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Hmm, not nice. people have survived worse though. can't be bothered with diging them up now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BongoBob Posted January 17, 2005 Share Posted January 17, 2005 Geez, that's friggin insane. A little more tilt of his head and he would have died instantly 0.0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabretooth Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 Somebody add a new weapon mod to UT2004. Nailgun, the bane of railgun. I like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neverhoodian Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 Geez, it's things like this that make me wary when I'm around power tools. Kind of reminds me of a true story I learned in my Psychology class. Something similar (but more serious) to this happened to a fellow by the name of Phineas Gage long ago. It's a fascinating read, not only of the event itself, but also of what can happen to a person when the brain is damaged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weiderudare Posted January 18, 2005 Share Posted January 18, 2005 *writes down "NEVER TOUCH A NAILGUN" on his to do list* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Jedi Posted January 19, 2005 Share Posted January 19, 2005 Heh. Saw part of this on the Today show this morning. It's absolutely amazing! Truly awesome! Good for him though. Geez can you imagine if it'd hit him at even a slightly different angle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
narfblat Posted January 19, 2005 Share Posted January 19, 2005 Originally posted by weiderudare *writes down "NEVER TOUCH A NAILGUN" on his to do list* *hands weiderudare a nailgun* haha. Since you failed that, write "NEVER HIT DYNAMITE WITH A HAMMER" on your list. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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