I know there are plenty of cases in which someone has survived a shot through the brain, or in which only part of their functioning is impaired, but for the most part, why does a bullet randomly aimed at someone’s head kill them nearly instantaneously? Rather than just losing eyesight or the ability to move an arm or leg. Thanks!
In: Biology
It all comes down to what’s hit and by how much force. Some areas of the brain we can do without (it’s not recommended but it’s possible to function without some parts of the brain) however a lot of the brain we can’t do without and damage to those parts of the brain is usually fatal. The problem with ballistics is weird shit happens when a bullet going really fast hits a solid object. Most bullets upon impacting the skull or body will deform and tumble (called keyholing in the shooting world) this is an intentional as it increases tissue damage and helps ensure what/whoever you shot goes down. I’m sure you can imagine why this happening in your brain cage is a bad thing. There’s also something called hydrostatic shock. The human body is mostly water and water doesn’t compress well the pressure created by the projectile cause further tissue damage. The bigger and faster the round the more this effect comes into play. That said it is 100% possible to survive a head shot (like I said ballistics can get weird) when I was in nursing school one of my teachers told us about the time she saw a young man come into the ER with a gunshot wound to the forehead. Somehow the 9mm bullet didn’t penetrate the skull and instead rode the curve of his skull under the skin exiting out the back of his head and leaving a channel wound several inches long. The kid was still concussed (the force has to go somewhere) but all he needed was stitches and observation.
Latest Answers