Nail gun accident: How do you NOT know you did this - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

ShaniFaye · 01-17-2005, 11:49 AM

I was reading this today and I really honestly do not understand how you can not know something is seriously wrong, really...look at ruler and see just how big 4 inches (10 centimeters for the metric people) is. How in god's name do you shot that in yourself and NOT know

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

Quote:

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."

the_marq · 01-17-2005, 11:52 AM

Quote:

"He's the luckiest guy, ever."

Let me tell you something. The "luckiest guy ever" does not have a nail in his head, and is not in debt by $100K because he doesn't know how to use power tools safely.

anleja · 01-17-2005, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_marq

Let me tell you something. The "luckiest guy ever" does not have a nail in his head, and is not in debt by $100K because he doesn't know how to use power tools safely.

ahahaha, just what I was thinking.

Chuckles · 01-17-2005, 12:13 PM

That guy must be a beast to not notice something so painful haha

Crisis · 01-17-2005, 12:26 PM

That'd be a cool story for your kids.

the420star · 01-17-2005, 12:26 PM

i have no idea how a person wouldnt notice something like this happened to him... you think he was on drugs or something

Mojo_PeiPei · 01-17-2005, 12:29 PM

I saw this as I got home this morning on NBC morning show. Completely ridiculous, this guy was complaining about a tooth ache.... get serious. I also laughed out loud when I saw pictures of the nail from the Xray his wife took; it's weird because the nail is straight up in his head, not at any sort of an angle. What a goon.

Lebell · 01-17-2005, 12:30 PM

Maybe he's a ski bum who ran into one too many trees

water_boy1999 · 01-17-2005, 12:34 PM

And this is the second incident the hospital has seen?

You don't know how bad I want to see a picture of the guy. I can't believe someone could be that dense to not notice a 4 inch nail coming through their mouth and up to the skull. Ouch!

cyrnel · 01-17-2005, 12:35 PM

I'm trying to locate some part of my jaw, or an angle, that would allow me to eat and talk with half of a 4" nail penetrating my brain.

Must have hit a pain center, or the center that normally says "hey, fuckwad, you just shot yourself. Time to seek help." Ice cream my ass.

Sweetpea · 01-17-2005, 12:40 PM

Wow, that is shocking . . .! I mean . . . didn't he use a mirror to look at which tooth would be bothering him?

but man, wow . . . was he LUCKY for it to have missed his eye and brain . . . that is amazing . . .

Ripsaw · 01-17-2005, 12:50 PM

He must be really good with pain. I wonder if he saved the nail.

Homey_V · 01-17-2005, 12:51 PM

Well, I would guess that its possible since he obviously didnt have that much brain to hit in the first place.
How the hell would you not notice a NAIL IN YOUR FREAKING MOUTH!?!?!

I sure hope he's sterile

lurkette · 01-17-2005, 01:04 PM

Holy shit! How could he not have felt that?!? Unbelievable.

CSflim · 01-17-2005, 01:12 PM

Hahahaha. That's very funny.

I wonder how he could possibly have not noticed!

Vincentt · 01-17-2005, 01:37 PM

maybe he could ebay the nail to help cover costs :P.

cj2112 · 01-17-2005, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by water_boy1999

You don't know how bad I want to see a picture of the guy.

JumpinJesus · 01-17-2005, 02:00 PM

After seeing the xray, I have to conclude that this guy is either one hardcore motherfucker or a complete idiot.

cj2112 · 01-17-2005, 02:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JumpinJesus

After seeing the xray, I have to conclude that this guy is either one hardcore motherfucker or a complete idiot.

or perhaps he is a hardcore complete motherfucking idiot

Homey_V · 01-17-2005, 03:14 PM

Im going to jump to conclusions and say that perhaps he's just really quite stupid.

CSflim · 01-17-2005, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vincentt

maybe he could ebay the nail to help cover costs :P.

Good plan!

*Nikki* · 01-17-2005, 03:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_marq

Let me tell you something. The "luckiest guy ever" does not have a nail in his head, and is not in debt by $100K because he doesn't know how to use power tools safely.

That accident really has nothing to do with not being able to use power tools correctly.

If you have ever used a nail gun you would know they are very dangerous and unpredictable. They can and do misfire all the time.

On the other hand I dont see why he didnt look in the mirror and check his mouth out.

cyrnel · 01-17-2005, 04:24 PM

They are scary bastard tools. In a woodshop is one thing, hanging on a house is quite another. The worst job has to be aiming it back up toward yourself. Even 45 degrees away makes me pay very close attention to the job, the tool, and the airhose.

That xray is still making me twitch. *cringe*

munchen · 01-17-2005, 06:34 PM

I'm wondering how he got the in nail at that angle. unless he was shooting with his mouth open as wide as possible or it went through the bottom of his mouth with noone noticing.

The nail enters the brain in the orbitofrontal region which wouldn't stop him from feeling pain. it could decrease self awareness though. Any doctors out there that know this stuff better? It would be cool to get an explaination for this.

Zephyr66 · 01-17-2005, 06:39 PM

i think its a good thing they x-rayed his head, sounds like it was needed

El Kaz · 01-17-2005, 06:42 PM

Maybe it happened like this?

TexanAvenger · 01-17-2005, 06:49 PM

"Honey, my tooth kinda hurts. And I can't get this taste out of my mouth. It's a little metallic... And damn, my sinuses are all blocked too."

skier · 01-17-2005, 07:21 PM

how did the nail get in? If it went through the floor of the mouth it would have left a swath of destruction through jaw muscles, the tongue, and maybe some salivary glands, before embedding itself into the roof of his mouth and piercing his brain. I can't imagine there not being a lot of blood from the hole it would make going in.

Once in though, it probably wouldn't be hurting too much except for the swelling around the damaged tissue, and the entry points where it came in. Like a toothache. But how could you miss the hole it punched through your tongue?

greytone · 01-17-2005, 07:32 PM

I have seen someone send a nail through the fleshy part of his finger and then keep working as if nothing had happened, but he certainly was aware of the injury. Obviously this guy does not use his frontal lobe too much.

guthmund · 01-17-2005, 09:03 PM

Obviously not.

I don't know and maybe it's just me, but if nail guns have a propensity to fire nails both unpredictably and haphazardly, I guess I'd just take the extra time and hammer it the old fashioned way.

I may smash the hell out of my thumb, but I guarantee I'm not going to drive a nail 1 1/4 inches INTO MY BRAIN!

I just can't imagine not knowing this happened. Maybe if I was on some serious drugs or drunk....I don't know. I mean, when my wisdom teeth came in, I thought my head was going to explode and almost died of shock when the dentist wouldn't see me over the weekend. I spent two days holed up in a dark corner popping pain relievers and contemplating what household item to use to best knock the sons-of-bitches out of my mouth on my own.

ryfo · 01-17-2005, 09:12 PM

i notice whrn i have a splinter embedded in my skin. Can't imagine a nail, glad i live in aus couldn't live with 100k medical bill when i thought it was just a toothache!!!!

Jonsgirl · 01-18-2005, 11:45 AM

Know what I think? He did this on a dare from his buddies. Once he had done it, he was in excruciating pain, but he realized that his wife would have his balls for being such an idiot. So, he toughs it out for a couple of days trying to think of a really good excuse. Once he realizes that there is, in fact, no good excuse, he is forced to go to the dentist where his wife works and pray that they don't laugh and make a national story out his stupidity.
....Oops!

MoonDog · 01-18-2005, 02:13 PM

What about the blood? There HAD to have been some telltale blood to say: "HEY! You just hurt yourself..check it out before you die!".

Or did pncture wounds stop bleeding sometime in the recent past and I just didn't get the memo?

Cimarron29414 · 01-18-2005, 02:25 PM

I saw this guy on the Today show this morning. Granted, he was drugged up, but he the nail that hit him was 10 times sharper than he was.

He had a pretty cute wife with a foreign accent, so he isn't that stupid. Anyway, The doctor was also at the interview and you should have seen the look on his face when Katie said "Well, you don't have any insurance. How are you going to pay for this bill?"

FngKestrel · 01-18-2005, 02:26 PM

That's a hell of a misfire.

As for feeling it, I don't think the brain itself has any pain receptors, but the upper palate must have definitely twinged, hence the "toothache."

Reminds me of the scene in "Old School" with the tranq dart

(can't find any pics though

).

Coppertop · 01-18-2005, 02:39 PM

Anyone else read the title get let down a little because it wasn't posted by Clavus?

Good find Shani!

munchen · 01-18-2005, 04:04 PM

Quote:

As for feeling it, I don't think the brain itself has any pain receptors, but the upper palate must have definitely twinged, hence the "toothache."

Your brain doesn't have any sort of pain receptors but your mouth has A TON. That would produce excruciating pain. This whole situation seems fishy to me.

appleseed · 01-18-2005, 04:05 PM

BAD PUN ALERT!!

"How in god's name do you shot that in yourself and NOT know ?"

Because he is a numb-skull?

*rim shot*

JasWalker · 01-18-2005, 04:23 PM

I like you... you got a freak'in nail in your HEAD.

JasWalker · 01-18-2005, 04:26 PM

check out the poor guy

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/news/050..._nail_gun.html

01-17-2005, 12:26 PM	#6 (permalink)
the420star Psycho Location: Cow Country, CT	i have no idea how a person wouldnt notice something like this happened to him... you think he was on drugs or something __________________ No, they arnt breasts, they are personalities, because its ok to like a girl for her personalities.

01-17-2005, 12:29 PM	#7 (permalink)
Mojo_PeiPei Kiss of Death Location: Perpetual wind and sorrow	I saw this as I got home this morning on NBC morning show. Completely ridiculous, this guy was complaining about a tooth ache.... get serious. I also laughed out loud when I saw pictures of the nail from the Xray his wife took; it's weird because the nail is straight up in his head, not at any sort of an angle. What a goon. __________________ To win a war you must serve no master but your ambition.

01-17-2005, 12:30 PM	#8 (permalink)
Lebell Cracking the Whip Location: Sexymama's arms...	Maybe he's a ski bum who ran into one too many trees __________________ "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis The ONLY sponsors we have are YOU! Please Donate!

01-17-2005, 12:34 PM	#9 (permalink)
water_boy1999 Fly em straight! Location: Above and Beyond	And this is the second incident the hospital has seen? You don't know how bad I want to see a picture of the guy. I can't believe someone could be that dense to not notice a 4 inch nail coming through their mouth and up to the skull. Ouch! __________________ Doh!!!! -Homer Simpson

01-17-2005, 12:40 PM	#11 (permalink)
Sweetpea Fade out Location: in love	Wow, that is shocking . . .! I mean . . . didn't he use a mirror to look at which tooth would be bothering him? but man, wow . . . was he LUCKY for it to have missed his eye and brain . . . that is amazing . . . __________________ Having a Pet Will Change Your Life! Looking for a great pet?! Click Here! "I am the Type of Person Who Can Get Away With A lot, Simply Because I Don't Ask Permission for the Privilege of Being Myself"

01-17-2005, 12:13 PM	#4 (permalink)
Chuckles Insane Location: California	That guy must be a beast to not notice something so painful haha

01-17-2005, 12:26 PM	#5 (permalink)
Crisis Tilted	That'd be a cool story for your kids.

01-17-2005, 12:35 PM	#10 (permalink)
cyrnel Adequate Location: In my angry-dome.	I'm trying to locate some part of my jaw, or an angle, that would allow me to eat and talk with half of a 4" nail penetrating my brain. Must have hit a pain center, or the center that normally says "hey, fuckwad, you just shot yourself. Time to seek help." Ice cream my ass.

01-17-2005, 12:50 PM	#12 (permalink)
Ripsaw Chef in Training	He must be really good with pain. I wonder if he saved the nail. __________________ "We are supposed to be masters of space, but we cant even line up our shoes?" One life, one chance, one opportunity.

01-17-2005, 12:51 PM	#13 (permalink)
Homey_V Psycho Location: Canada	Well, I would guess that its possible since he obviously didnt have that much brain to hit in the first place. How the hell would you not notice a NAIL IN YOUR FREAKING MOUTH!?!?! I sure hope he's sterile __________________ You did what with a duck?

01-17-2005, 01:04 PM	#14 (permalink)
lurkette My future is coming on Moderator Emeritus Location: east of the sun and west of the moon	Holy shit! How could he not have felt that?!? Unbelievable. __________________ "If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing." - Anatole France

01-17-2005, 01:12 PM	#15 (permalink)
CSflim Sky Piercer Location: Ireland	Hahahaha. That's very funny. I wonder how he could possibly have not noticed! __________________

01-17-2005, 01:37 PM	#16 (permalink)
Vincentt Addict Location: Tokyo, Japan	maybe he could ebay the nail to help cover costs :P. __________________ .

01-17-2005, 02:00 PM	#18 (permalink)
JumpinJesus Junkie Location: Chicago	After seeing the xray, I have to conclude that this guy is either one hardcore motherfucker or a complete idiot. __________________ "I can normally tell how intelligent a man is by how stupid he thinks I am" - Cormac McCarthy, All The Pretty Horses

01-17-2005, 03:14 PM	#20 (permalink)
Homey_V Psycho Location: Canada	Im going to jump to conclusions and say that perhaps he's just really quite stupid. __________________ You did what with a duck?

01-17-2005, 04:24 PM	#23 (permalink)
cyrnel Adequate Location: In my angry-dome.	They are scary bastard tools. In a woodshop is one thing, hanging on a house is quite another. The worst job has to be aiming it back up toward yourself. Even 45 degrees away makes me pay very close attention to the job, the tool, and the airhose. That xray is still making me twitch. cringe

01-17-2005, 06:34 PM	#24 (permalink)
munchen Crazy Location: Sudbury, Ontario	I'm wondering how he got the in nail at that angle. unless he was shooting with his mouth open as wide as possible or it went through the bottom of his mouth with noone noticing. The nail enters the brain in the orbitofrontal region which wouldn't stop him from feeling pain. it could decrease self awareness though. Any doctors out there that know this stuff better? It would be cool to get an explaination for this. __________________ "Love is a perky elf dancing a merry little jig and then suddenly he turns on you with a miniature machine gun" -Matt Groening

01-17-2005, 06:39 PM	#25 (permalink)
Zephyr66 My custom title's the shit! Location: Canada	i think its a good thing they x-rayed his head, sounds like it was needed

01-17-2005, 06:42 PM	#26 (permalink)
El Kaz Crazy Location: Canada	Maybe it happened like this? __________________ "Write a wise saying and your name will live forever." -Unknown

01-17-2005, 06:49 PM	#27 (permalink)
TexanAvenger Born-Again New Guy Location: Unfound.	"Honey, my tooth kinda hurts. And I can't get this taste out of my mouth. It's a little metallic... And damn, my sinuses are all blocked too."

01-17-2005, 07:21 PM	#28 (permalink)
skier Rawr! Location: Edmontania	how did the nail get in? If it went through the floor of the mouth it would have left a swath of destruction through jaw muscles, the tongue, and maybe some salivary glands, before embedding itself into the roof of his mouth and piercing his brain. I can't imagine there not being a lot of blood from the hole it would make going in. Once in though, it probably wouldn't be hurting too much except for the swelling around the damaged tissue, and the entry points where it came in. Like a toothache. But how could you miss the hole it punched through your tongue? __________________ "Asking a bomb squad if an old bomb is still "real" is not the best thing to do if you want to save it." - denim

01-17-2005, 07:32 PM	#29 (permalink)
greytone Junkie	I have seen someone send a nail through the fleshy part of his finger and then keep working as if nothing had happened, but he certainly was aware of the injury. Obviously this guy does not use his frontal lobe too much. __________________ I was there to see beautiful naked women. So was everybody else. It's a common failing. Robert A Heinlein in "They Do It With Mirrors"

01-17-2005, 09:03 PM	#30 (permalink)
guthmund big damn hero	Obviously not. I don't know and maybe it's just me, but if nail guns have a propensity to fire nails both unpredictably and haphazardly, I guess I'd just take the extra time and hammer it the old fashioned way. I may smash the hell out of my thumb, but I guarantee I'm not going to drive a nail 1 1/4 inches INTO MY BRAIN! I just can't imagine not knowing this happened. Maybe if I was on some serious drugs or drunk....I don't know. I mean, when my wisdom teeth came in, I thought my head was going to explode and almost died of shock when the dentist wouldn't see me over the weekend. I spent two days holed up in a dark corner popping pain relievers and contemplating what household item to use to best knock the sons-of-bitches out of my mouth on my own. __________________ No signature. None. Seriously.

01-17-2005, 09:12 PM	#31 (permalink)
ryfo Psycho Location: melbourne australia	i notice whrn i have a splinter embedded in my skin. Can't imagine a nail, glad i live in aus couldn't live with 100k medical bill when i thought it was just a toothache!!!!

01-18-2005, 11:45 AM	#32 (permalink)
Jonsgirl Semi-Atomic Location: Home.	Know what I think? He did this on a dare from his buddies. Once he had done it, he was in excruciating pain, but he realized that his wife would have his balls for being such an idiot. So, he toughs it out for a couple of days trying to think of a really good excuse. Once he realizes that there is, in fact, no good excuse, he is forced to go to the dentist where his wife works and pray that they don't laugh and make a national story out his stupidity. ....Oops! __________________ Someday, someone will best me. But it won't be today, and it won't be you.

01-18-2005, 02:13 PM	#33 (permalink)
MoonDog Psycho Location: Buffalo, New York	What about the blood? There HAD to have been some telltale blood to say: "HEY! You just hurt yourself..check it out before you die!". Or did pncture wounds stop bleeding sometime in the recent past and I just didn't get the memo?

01-18-2005, 02:25 PM	#34 (permalink)
Cimarron29414 Still Free Location: comfortably perched at the top of the bell curve!	I saw this guy on the Today show this morning. Granted, he was drugged up, but he the nail that hit him was 10 times sharper than he was. He had a pretty cute wife with a foreign accent, so he isn't that stupid. Anyway, The doctor was also at the interview and you should have seen the look on his face when Katie said "Well, you don't have any insurance. How are you going to pay for this bill?"

01-18-2005, 02:26 PM	#35 (permalink)
FngKestrel Junkie	That's a hell of a misfire. As for feeling it, I don't think the brain itself has any pain receptors, but the upper palate must have definitely twinged, hence the "toothache." Reminds me of the scene in "Old School" with the tranq dart (can't find any pics though ).

01-18-2005, 02:39 PM	#36 (permalink)
Coppertop Getting Medieval on your ass Location: 13th century Europe	Anyone else read the title get let down a little because it wasn't posted by Clavus? Good find Shani!

01-18-2005, 04:05 PM	#38 (permalink)
appleseed Tilted Location: Wisconsin	BAD PUN ALERT!! "How in god's name do you shot that in yourself and NOT know ?" Because he is a numb-skull? rim shot

01-18-2005, 04:23 PM	#39 (permalink)
JasWalker Upright Location: In front of my computer	I like you... you got a freak'in nail in your HEAD.

01-18-2005, 04:26 PM	#40 (permalink)
JasWalker Upright Location: In front of my computer	check out the poor guy http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/news/050..._nail_gun.html