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Strings
Supporter
Username: Blue_eyes
Post Number: 315
Registered: 4-2004
| | Posted on Monday, January 17, 2005 - 12:51 pm: |     |
http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/01/16/nailgun.accident.ap/index.html
Nail embedded in man's skull for 6 days
Monday, January 17, 2005 Posted: 7:48 AM EST (1248 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."
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ML
Supporter
Username: Ml1
Post Number: 2199
Registered: 5-2002
| | Posted on Monday, January 17, 2005 - 1:33 pm: | |
He also said from now on he's using a hammer. I think the exact quote was "I need to go back to using a nail gun like I need a hole in the head. Um, wait a sec. I DO have a hole in the head. I guess I mean..., oh never mind." |
Hank Zona
Citizen
Username: Hankzona
Post Number: 1928
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Monday, January 17, 2005 - 2:00 pm: | |
in the words of John Cleese, "my brain hurts!!" |
redY67
Citizen
Username: Redy67
Post Number: 557
Registered: 2-2003
| | Posted on Monday, January 17, 2005 - 3:37 pm: | |
ouch!! |
jeffl
Supporter
Username: Jeffl
Post Number: 927
Registered: 8-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 17, 2005 - 4:39 pm: | |
I think this resulted from a gross misunderstanding of the "candling" thread on MOL. I just knew you couldn't stick something in one ear and have it come out the other. |
gozerbrown
Citizen
Username: Gozerbrown
Post Number: 610
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 10:29 am: | |
But did the nail unclog his ear? That is the key quesion! |
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