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Dude thought nail lodged in his skull was just a toothache

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by rockbox, Jan 16, 2005.

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  1. rockbox

    rockbox Around before clutchcity.com

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    I just can't believe this. How does a dude get a nail stuck in his head through his mouth without knowing it.

    http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/16/nailgun.accident.ap/index.html


    Nail embedded in man's skull for 6 days

    Sunday, January 16, 2005 Posted: 7:16 PM EST (0016 GMT)




    LITTLETON, Colorado (AP) -- A dentist found the source of the toothache Patrick Lawler was complaining about on the roof of his mouth -- a four-inch (10-centimeter) nail the construction worker had unknowingly embedded in his skull six days earlier.

    A nail gun backfired on Lawler, 23, on January 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 (4 centimeters) into his brain, barely missing his right eye, Metcalse said.

    "This is the second one we've seen in this hospital where the person was injured by the nail gun and didn't actually realize the nail had been imbedded in their skull," neurosurgeon Sean Markey told KUSA-TV in Denver. "But it's a pretty rare injury."

    Lawler was recovering Sunday in the hospital, where he was expected to spend several more days.

    Despite his lack of medical insurance and hospital bills between $80,000 and $100,000, Katerina Lawler said her husband is in good spirits.

    "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."
     
    #1 rockbox, Jan 16, 2005
  2. cagey veteran

    cagey veteran Member

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    You think you'd feel that one going in.
     
    #2 cagey veteran, Jan 16, 2005
  3. isoman2kx

    isoman2kx Member

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    really hit the nail on the head didn't he?
     
    #3 isoman2kx, Jan 16, 2005
  4. Ottomaton

    Ottomaton Member
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    About 10 years ago in the Journal of the American Medical Association, on the back page they had an x-ray of some old guy who cam to the ER with some unrelated problem. In the x-ray they discovered a nail about 90% of the way back in his scull. He didn't know how it got there at first, but then he realized that about 20 years ago he'd tried to kill himself with a nailgun, but had thought he missed, and he had no real problems as a result.

    And...

    After looking around for the photo, I've discovered a couple of other, similar stories. Apparently this sort of thing is not uncommon.

    I found this cool x-ray:

    [​IMG]

    For an image of the entry wound (not too nasty, but just to be safe) and the story about how he showed up for work the next day, but co-workers convinced the guy to go to the doctor, click here.
     
    #4 Ottomaton, Jan 17, 2005
  5. Ottomaton

    Ottomaton Member
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    BTW, there are no nerve cells in the brain proper. You have nerves in in vascular areas which is how get a headache (I think unless it's a migraine) but the actual white matter & gray matter are only nerve cells & glial cells. All the pain would've been from the entry wound, and from pressure on other tissues. Given the velocity and sharpness of a nail comming out of a nail gun, the entry area wouldn't really be all that big.

    In the history of this sort of thing there's one name at the begining. Phineas Gage.

    Gage was a 19th century railroad engineer who was packing dynamite into rock with an iron tamping rod, which was basically a long iron rod about 4 feet by 1 inch. The rod caused a spark and the dynamite went off, launching the rod through his jaw and out the top of his head on the other hemisphere.

    The guy lost an eye and had infection problems, but he had no major functional problems. He did, however, become a drunken immoral slob. He lived for quite a while.
     
    #5 Ottomaton, Jan 17, 2005
    Last edited: Jan 17, 2005
  6. meggoleggo

    meggoleggo Member

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    Ah, good ole Phineas Gage. Gotta love it. If I only had a dollar for every time his name was brought up through the course of my education, I probably could pay for grad school!

    He basically went through a crude frontal labotomy... He had no physical malfunctions as a result of the accident - the pipe didn't hit his motor or pre-motor cortex... But he lost all concept of morals, manners, and lost his "conscience"... He basically couldn't think before he acted.
     
    #6 meggoleggo, Jan 17, 2005
  7. bamaslammer

    bamaslammer Member

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    Like any modern athlete, like Kobe, Randy Moss or any other...
     
    #7 bamaslammer, Jan 17, 2005
  8. Christopher

    Christopher Member

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    Gold. :D
     
    #8 Christopher, Jan 17, 2005
  9. PhiSlammaJamma

    PhiSlammaJamma Member

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    Isn't there a guy who had like a two foot long blade/rod pass through his skull at the perfect angle and survive. I think there is a photo out there somewhere. But this is freaky too.
     
    #9 PhiSlammaJamma, Jan 18, 2005
  10. Agent94

    Agent94 Member

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    "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."

    I hate it when people say that. Lucky would be NOT having a four inch nail in your skull and an $80,000 medical bill.
     
    #10 Agent94, Jan 18, 2005
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