Bricklayer accidentally shoots himself in the head with a nail gun

An Australian worker accidentally shot a 3.2 cm nail into his brain. He thought the nail gun was empty.

Brad Shorten, a 32-year-old father of three was drinking some beers and talking about construction site accidents to his friends when he pointed a, what he thought was empty, nail gun to his head and fired.

"My mates and I were talking about construction site accidents and taking your eye out with a nail gun, and I foolishly put the gun to my head and pulled the trigger."

A 3.2 centimetre nail was fired into his brain and only left a small red dot on the surface of his skull. His mates thought the nail gun fired, but didn't actually shoot a nail out.

Mr Shorten thought it was empty because he took out the cartridge and turned off the compressor. Unfortunately there was still air pressure in the gun and a nail in the chambre.

His 13-year-old son insisted his father called an ambulance and went to the hospital.

"At hospital the pain got worse, and I was getting frustrated so I asked (nurses) for a pair of pliers to pull it out myself," Mr Shorten said.

Mr Shorten's neurosurgeon, Dr Kevin Siu, said that would have been the worst thing to do.

The nail was removed by a specialist team in a risky four-hour operation. Part of the skull was removed and the nail was taken out.

Had the nail been in 1 centimetre deeper, Brad would have risked permanent brain damage, a stroke or paralysis. He's lucky to be alive.

"I did a very stupid thing," Mr Shorten said.

Posted in Health & Food by Paul van der Maas