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News

Man Accidentally Shoots Himself in Heart With Nail Gun

He lives to tell the tale — and it's a great tale.

By Matt Higgins

With patent lawsuits, acquisitions, and debates in Washington, lately a lot of the safety attention has been focused solely on tablesaws, but every working pro knows those are hardly the only dangerous item at the jobsite. Recently, a Wisconsin man proved that nail guns shouldn’t be taken for granted either. Doug Bergeson dropped his nailer, which then fired a nail into his heart. He looked down, decided he would not get any more work done today, and drove himself to the local hospital. While we hate to spoil the ending—he survives—this post-incident video is an absolute must-watch.

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  1. KasilofLeif | Sep 13, 2017 04:49pm | #1

    Whoa! This belongs with the you-tube channel "Essential Craftsman" video series. I'd like to know the brand/age of nailgun, and if any of the safety features had been disabled, or if he accidentally had the trigger pulled while in that awkward reach position.

  2. SVArcturus | Jun 19, 2018 11:14am | #2

    I'm not sure if something changed, but there is no "post-incident video" or link that I could find here.

  3. olderthanyou | Mar 13, 2019 01:48pm | #3

    Happens more than you might expect
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqhzla9dQaI
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw6bI1W0KhM

  4. User avater
    john_m1 | Jun 07, 2021 01:35pm | #4

    My steam guy is an ex EMT in my town. He had a guy who nailed his leg to a roof. I can't quite remember what safety protocol he breached, but he was on the roof an hour before they were able to get him down. For a sticker I will chase this story down.

    Its a tragedy that more technology like Saw Stop is not only available but universal. Do a search on You Tube for Angle Grinder fail. No one should ever have a lethal or debilitating injury just to save a few bucks.

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