A friend had brought him the gun knowing that he was good at repairing damaged items and in this case the damage was that the gun wouldn't load. So he proceeded to repair the faulty gun. He had the barrel of the gun resting on his hip so he could watch the bullet slide into the chamber and, as luck wouldn't have it, the gun loaded! And immediately unloaded into his hip!

As it turns out he was lucky. Although it was a round of buckshot, which shattered a chunk of his left femur and caused his leg muscles to be turned into lead pellet riddled hamburger, he didn't hit any major arteries or organs. But three surgeries, and a couple metal rods later, he will walk again soon.

Needless to say he learned his lesson, some things are better off broken!

Submitted on 06/06/2005

Submitted by: Karla Barker
Reference: Abbotsford Times, April.14/05

Copyright © 2005 DarwinAwards.com

Daniel said:
Maybe Toss: Too Common
Firearms are always loaded, and we're loaded with firearms accident stories.

Kelly said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
This is a personal account that is a bit more unique than most firearms stories. He's not a kid playing with a gun, he's a repairman fixing it, and being really stupid about how he's handling it. I hope he recovers alright.

Jack said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
I've got to vote to keep this, if only because I had a similar accident many years ago while trying to repair a pistol...

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