Doc Uses Claw Hammer to Remove Nail in Man's Skull
Erstwhile handyman George Chandler survived being accidentally shot in the head with a nailgun; the ER doc used a regular claw hammer to remove the nail.
By Anastacia Mott Austin
A Kansas man proved he was tough as nails after surviving a nailgun shot to the head last week.
George Chandler, 60, was working on a lattice in his backyard with his friend Phil Kern, also 60, when the hose from their nail gun became tangled. Kern wrestled the kink out the hose and the gun accidentally fired.
Chandler said he felt a "sting" on the top of his head and figured the nail had grazed him. The two friends searched for a few moments for the nail, and then Kern spotted it...sticking out of Chandler's head.
Telling his friend to sit down, Kern called 911. "He was hollering at me, telling me to sit down," Chandler said to reporters. The 911 operator told the two to come into the emergency room and to leave the nail where it was.
After being told at the ER that there were two emergencies ahead of them "more dire" than the two-inch nail Chandler had in his brain, the two men waited their turn.
The ER doctor who examined Chandler tried to remove the nail but couldn't get a good grip on it.
"He had a pair of pliers and he was trying to get hold of the nail, and he couldn't quite get it," Chandler told the press. "He looked at me and said, 'I need a claw hammer.'" Added Chandler, "I thought he was just teasing."
He wasn't kidding, and the doc borrowed a regular claw hammer from a hospital worker. After sterilizing it with iodine, the doctor used the screwdriver to lift the nail up enough for the claw on the hammer to grab the nail. And out it came. "He got a screwdriver at the same time, and he took the screwdriver and pried the nail up a little bit and got the claw hammer," Chandler said.
The hospital allowed Chandler to keep the nail as a souvenir, and gave his scalp a couple of stitches, and he was on his way.
Chandler and Kern appeared on "The Today Show" with Ann Curry, and George showed her his baseball cap, now sporting a tiny hole where the nail had been.
Dr. Arno Fried, a neurosurgeon at Hackensack University Medical Center, told reporters at Fox News that he may have tried a different technique, but that the doctors who treated Chandler at the local hospital seemed to know what they were doing. "It's almost on the top of the head so they were probably confident that it didn't hit any of the major vessels," said Arno to Fox, after looking at Chandler's x-rays. "[Their method] is not unreasonable as long as there's good medical follow-up such as doing a CT scan after you're finished to make sure there's no bleeding in the brain."
Asked on "The Today Show" if he had any hard feelings toward his friend after the incident, Chandler laughed and said, "We're still good friends."
A Kansas man proved he was tough as nails after surviving a nailgun shot to the head last week.
George Chandler, 60, was working on a lattice in his backyard with his friend Phil Kern, also 60, when the hose from their nail gun became tangled. Kern wrestled the kink out the hose and the gun accidentally fired.
Chandler said he felt a "sting" on the top of his head and figured the nail had grazed him. The two friends searched for a few moments for the nail, and then Kern spotted it...sticking out of Chandler's head.
Telling his friend to sit down, Kern called 911. "He was hollering at me, telling me to sit down," Chandler said to reporters. The 911 operator told the two to come into the emergency room and to leave the nail where it was.
After being told at the ER that there were two emergencies ahead of them "more dire" than the two-inch nail Chandler had in his brain, the two men waited their turn.
The ER doctor who examined Chandler tried to remove the nail but couldn't get a good grip on it.
"He had a pair of pliers and he was trying to get hold of the nail, and he couldn't quite get it," Chandler told the press. "He looked at me and said, 'I need a claw hammer.'" Added Chandler, "I thought he was just teasing."
He wasn't kidding, and the doc borrowed a regular claw hammer from a hospital worker. After sterilizing it with iodine, the doctor used the screwdriver to lift the nail up enough for the claw on the hammer to grab the nail. And out it came. "He got a screwdriver at the same time, and he took the screwdriver and pried the nail up a little bit and got the claw hammer," Chandler said.
The hospital allowed Chandler to keep the nail as a souvenir, and gave his scalp a couple of stitches, and he was on his way.
Chandler and Kern appeared on "The Today Show" with Ann Curry, and George showed her his baseball cap, now sporting a tiny hole where the nail had been.
Dr. Arno Fried, a neurosurgeon at Hackensack University Medical Center, told reporters at Fox News that he may have tried a different technique, but that the doctors who treated Chandler at the local hospital seemed to know what they were doing. "It's almost on the top of the head so they were probably confident that it didn't hit any of the major vessels," said Arno to Fox, after looking at Chandler's x-rays. "[Their method] is not unreasonable as long as there's good medical follow-up such as doing a CT scan after you're finished to make sure there's no bleeding in the brain."
Asked on "The Today Show" if he had any hard feelings toward his friend after the incident, Chandler laughed and said, "We're still good friends."
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