Escondido, CA.

A general contractor was pretty confident in himself as he drove finishing nails into some crossbeams with his pneumatic nail gun. Now doing this for so many years, an experienced carpenter like him would be qualified to use a rapid firing nail gun with a hair trigger. Now those who watch "CSI: Miami" know that nail guns cannot hurt you because they have a safety which will not let the gun fire a nail unless the end of the gun is pressed firmly down against the surface which you want to drive the nail into. This applies even to ones which drive nails quickly. What this contractor needed to remember is to take his finger completely off the trigger BEFORE pulling his nail gun away from his working surface. Not realizing this, he raised his nail gun away from the wood too quickly for the safety to engage whilst still gripping the trigger hard enough to send a 2.5 inch #16 penny nail into the right side of his head above the ear. The nail pierced his skull and drove completely into his brain leaving the head of the nail flush against his scalp. To the amazment of his co-workers, he remained concious and in no pain. After hours at the local hospital, the nail was removed. What shocked the doctors and neurologist is that he suffered no diminished brain capacity, no brain damage, no nerve damage or hemmoraging inside his skull. Doctors released him two days later and the contractor is ready to return to work, thinking clearly that this incident was caused by insufficient safety precautions (such as hard hats), but not carelessness for the machines that we use everyday that are fully capable of becoming lethal very quickly.

Submitted on 01/20/2006

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: 1/18/06 - personal reference

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

James said:
Definitely Keep: Personal Account
Ha! This one's kinda funny! A nail drives its way completely into his skull, and yet there is no apparent brain damage! Must be the layer of marshmallow surrounding the little peanut! :-) I'll keep this as a PA!

Jack said:
Maybe Toss: Lacks Excellence
While it's been a while since we've had a nail gun accident (search under "nail gun"), I really don't see any excellence here - one of the stories in our archives tells about a man who went 6 days with a nail in his head! And there are others as well! Sorry, but we do appreciate the submission.

Greg said:
Maybe Toss: Other
I like this story, but given Jack's research has highlighted we already have similar stories, I think I'll vote to maybe toss. I wouldn't say the story lacks excellence though. Thanks for the submission!

Tracy said:
Neutral: Personal Account
Ouch! But I love the fact that's he's suffered no brain damage

Charles said:
Neutral: Honorable Mention
Based on Jack's and Greg's comments, I can't really give this more than a "neutral"... and I can't see how he could have moved the gun fast enough to fire a nail into his head. Is it possible that the safety did not work or had been disabled?

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