Interesting Story?

[DropkickMurphy]

Wow, whats the odds of such a thing happening and the person even surviving, he certainly got lucky there! I hope that it has no lasting effects on the guy!

Actually, for non-gunshot wound penetrating trauma to the head, the rate of survival is remarkably high. Remember that most of what really does damage in the case of a gunshot is the shockwave surrounding the bullet as it passes through soft tissue (and brain is about as soft as it gets). That isn't present in the case of stabbings to the head, impaled objects, etc. During my tenure in health care and emergency services I have personally seen four cases- one arrow, a stabbing, an industrial accident involving a flying piece of metal and a piece of wood associated with tornadic winds to be precise- where this has happened and the person survived. In all of them, the person was conscious and talking afterward. Google Phineas Gage for the ultimate example of what a person can take in terms of penetrating head injury and still survive (although Gage had serious personality changes after his injury).

Judging by the rather odd angle of the CT image that was provided with the spear impalement story, I am almost willing to bet it did not actually enter his brain but perhaps lodged in the outer table of his skull and sinuses or it may have just pushed his frontal lobes out of the way as it came in. The brain is somewhat compressible within certain limits. Too much compression from swelling, blood accumulating, etc and you start to squeeze the bottom of the brain out the bottom of the skull where the spinal cord exits; this is called herniation for those who are playing along at home and is one of the more common things that kill people dying of head injuries and other related problems. However, sometimes on a rare occasion the brain being soft and kind of malleable is what saves someone from death or an even worse fate.

Still, that would hurt like hell, but it's not nearly as bad as "He was shot in the head with a speargun" makes it sound at first blush. The primary concerns with something like this occurring underwater in a marine environment is the secondary infections that can happen. Ocean water contains some pretty nasty bacteria that just LOVE open wounds.

 

[annlaur]

There's an old children song in France that starts like this :
"This morning a rabbit killed a hunter..."
Sure not a funny experience for the victim, but I always enjoy "man bites dog" stories.
Thanks to the OP for posting it. And good recovery to the victim.

 

[ivobj]

According to the new we had here in Brazil trough TV and newspaper, the gay was quite fortunate, the doctor said that less than 2 milimeters separated him from a sad ending, 2 mm more and the spear would have caused rupture of the carotida, that supplyes blood to the braim.

Thanks god it ended well.

 

[Puffer Fish]

Actually, for non-gunshot wound penetrating trauma to the head, the rate of survival is remarkably high. Remember that most of what really does damage in the case of a gunshot is the shockwave surrounding the bullet as it passes through soft tissue (and brain is about as soft as it gets). That isn't present in the case of stabbings to the head, impaled objects, etc. During my tenure in health care and emergency services I have personally seen four cases- one arrow, a stabbing, an industrial accident involving a flying piece of metal and a piece of wood associated with tornadic winds to be precise- where this has happened and the person survived. In all of them, the person was conscious and talking afterward. Google Phineas Gage for the ultimate example of what a person can take in terms of penetrating head injury and still survive (although Gage had serious personality changes after his injury).

Judging by the rather odd angle of the CT image that was provided with the spear impalement story, I am almost willing to bet it did not actually enter his brain but perhaps lodged in the outer table of his skull and sinuses or it may have just pushed his frontal lobes out of the way as it came in. The brain is somewhat compressible within certain limits. Too much compression from swelling, blood accumulating, etc and you start to squeeze the bottom of the brain out the bottom of the skull where the spinal cord exits; this is called herniation for those who are playing along at home and is one of the more common things that kill people dying of head injuries and other related problems. However, sometimes on a rare occasion the brain being soft and kind of malleable is what saves someone from death or an even worse fate.

Still, that would hurt like hell, but it's not nearly as bad as "He was shot in the head with a speargun" makes it sound at first blush. The primary concerns with something like this occurring underwater in a marine environment is the secondary infections that can happen. Ocean water contains some pretty nasty bacteria that just LOVE open wounds.

My experience is that sticking anything in the brain is not a good idea:


This one did not have a happy ending:

That is the back end of the spear, by the way.

It is easy for people to forget just how dangerous spear guns can be.

Spend a day with someone who had that, and you can never get the thought out of your mind.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

My experience is that sticking anything in the brain is not a good idea:


This one did not have a happy ending:

That is the back end of the spear, by the way.

It is easy for people to forget just how dangerous spear guns can be.

This is very very true. I was not trying to diminish how lucky this guy was that it hit him where it did (if he had to get hit in the head). There have been far more bad outcomes- from varying degrees of handicaps to death- from such injuries. For someone to come away completely injured means it was just their lucky day.

Spend a day with someone who had that, and you can never get the thought out of your mind.

Oh trust me, I've probably seen things like that more times than you have (unless you happen to be a surgeon or something along those lines) and it does not get easier with experience.

According to the new we had here in Brazil trough TV and newspaper, the gay was quite fortunate, the doctor said that less than 2 milimeters separated him from a sad ending, 2 mm more and the spear would have caused rupture of the carotida, that supplyes blood to the braim.

The images I've seen show it's not anywhere near the carotids, which enter the brain a little further back than where this guy hit. What I've seen seems to show a very anterior wound to the frontal lobes (in layman's terms the front part of the brain just above the eyes). 2 cm would be more like it....maybe a little less but 2 mm is roughly the thickness of two CDs so it's definitely not that close. However, this is just a guess based on the rather poor quality CT scans I have seen of this case.

 

[Air One]

The arrow seems to be very close from the willis circle and the optical chiasma.
Yes, this guy is lucky if he has no after effects.
Anyway, he is lucky to be alive.

 

[Puffer Fish]

That would appear to be a threaded rod, and not an arrow.

 

[dkktsunami]

happend across this thought it might give everone a little giggle.
Comcast.net: Man hit by spear done with underwater fishing

Your profiled SB Challenge seems to be eluding you.......

 

[dutchpickle]

Air One - that looks like a piece of re-bar (used in concrete construction)

 

[Air One]

That would appear to be a threaded rod, and not an arrow.

Air One - that looks like a piece of re-bar (used in concrete construction)

Yes, you're both right. I picked up the image in the article and thought it was the same guy...Quite naive, sorry...