KGW photo

An Oregon man who went to a hospital complaining of a headache was found to have 12 nails embedded in his skull from a suicide attempt with a nail gun, doctors say.

Surgeons removed the nails with needle-nosed pliers and a drill, and the man survived with no serious lasting effects, according to a report on the medical oddity in the current issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery.

The unidentified 33-year-old man was suicidal and high on methamphetamine last year when he fired the nails — up to 2 inches in length — into his head one by one.

No one before is known to have survived after intentionally firing so many foreign objects into the head, according to the report, written by Dr. G. Alexander West, the neurosurgeon who oversaw the treatment of the patient.

The man at first told doctors he had had a nail gun accident, but later admitted it was a suicide attempt.

The patient was later transferred to psychiatric care and stayed under court order for nearly a month before leaving against doctors’ orders.

Rock on!



  1. Mike says:

    craziest thing I’ve seen since the picture of that guy who cut the skin off his face while on PCP.

  2. axe says:

    A gun would have worked on the first try in most cases.

    Sounds like he could have gone to Sears to get fixed.

  3. Kris says:

    It didnt damage his brain because he didnt have one after doing all that meth.

  4. rus62 says:

    Wow! Another reason not to do meth.

  5. Diane Ensey says:

    How long did he have the nails in his head a year? Half a year? He puts up with headaches better than I do!

  6. joshua says:

    Surprised his head didn’t deflate, since there was nothing in it but air and ashes.

  7. meetsy says:

    …gives a whole new meaning to “go out and get hammered”

  8. jsforbes says:

    Sounds like his brain wasn’t doing much of anything in the first place.

  9. RTaylor says:

    I’m don’t consider myself inhumane, but I do wonder what saving these people is doing to the gene pool. This end run around Darwin is bound to eventually cause problems.

  10. Gary Marks says:

    Perhaps the man will be less suicidal when he learns that he’s just qualified for the Guinness Book of World Records! The previous record was only 9 nails in the skull, so I’m sure he and his family will be very proud. Perhaps he’ll be generous enough to donate the extracted nails to the Smithsonian Institute, where they can serve as inspiration to up and coming young “Nail Heads” everywhere.

  11. joshua says:

    Kind of says a lot for the quality of nails these days.

  12. Wayne says:

    Wow…talk about getting your nails done…

  13. Mr. Effexor Fusion says:

    Stoned on meth, it is hard to get the point.

  14. Kris says:

    This guy is a “STUD”!

  15. What?! No “hit the nail on the head” gag? HOw did you all miss that one?

  16. Howie Gordon says:

    After leaving the hospital, stubbed his toe and died.

  17. ECA says:

    Next time, TURN UP THE PRESSURE….
    That thing should have cracked his Skull, First shot.


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