Anyone for Tea?

A woman who was shot in the head by her husband was found making a cup of tea not long thereafter. It seems that the shot had caused only the slightest discomfort, although modern medicine tells us that she should’ve been either dead or in a coma.

Such stories have been around for centuries. In 1898, a Reading, PA man awakened after being shot twice in the head by his son. He immediately saw a doctor and was fine thereafter. (The son’s well-being, however, remains unsubstantiated.) In another more recent story, a man was shot in the head at his local fast food restaurant. He told a policeman what happened, but the cop believed that the damage was minimal. He was unable to see any bullet holes. It was after the man was taken to the hospital and scanned that they found two slugs in his brain.

Doctors say that the survival rate for a gunshot to the head is very low. It is estimated that only five percent of the people with gunshot brain injuries survive. This number seems very small, but we keep hearing about how some people just keep on ticking after such a traumatic event. How is it possible to have so many real survivor stories?

Well, there are factors that determine a person’s survival rate, but even these are not certain. The brain and its functions are still very unfamiliar to the world of medicine. So, no one knows exactly how the gunshots to the brain are survived. These factors just help to explain some of the victims and why they have survived.

Path of the Bullet:

The place where the bullet enters and exits the head matters most in surviving a gunshot induced head injury. In fact, a shot that travels from the front of the head to the back is the “best”. This is because the bullet injures less parts of the brain coming in from the front than the back of the head. A shot to the brain stem is almost instantly fatal, while one can survive if only the right or the left hemisphere is affected and not the other. A bullet travelling down the midline (centre) of the brain will take out both hemispheres and is therefore virtually un-survivable.

Age:

Children and young adults are more likely to survive a gunshot wound to the head than a middle aged or elderly adult. Younger people are generally in better health and can withstand the shock to the system that a gunshot provides.

Remaining Conscious:

Victims who arrive at the hospital conscious have a better chance at survival than those who arrive in a coma. Responsiveness means that the brain is functioning and the damage is minimal.

This information is all well and good, but I must add something here; the tea-totalling woman was shot in the middle of her forehead. The bullet travelled down the midline of her brain (affecting both hemispheres) and exited through the back of her head. Explain that!