Posted on 10/01/2007 6:07:01 AM PDT by decimon
An art student who fears she was almost killed by her belly button stud in a car accident has warned about the potential dangers of body piercings.
Jessica Collins' seatbelt forced the stud through her stomach almost to her spine in the crash in Munich.
Her mother, Amanda, of Cardiff, compared the impact to a bullet and said her daughter was lucky to survive.
From her German hospital bed Jessica, 19, who hopes to return home soon, has urged friends to remove their studs.
The crash a week ago while she was on a working holiday taking photographs of cathedrals, left the student with facial injuries and blood on her brain.
But her family, who flew out to be with her, say the most serious damage was the result of her seat belt thrusting the piercing into her stomach.
Jessica Collins's belly button stud I can't say I've ever heard of anything like this before, but for a decorative bit of jewellery it's not worth the risk Chris Beadle, Jessica's stepfather
She lost blood and underwent a three-hour operation. Her mother will stay in Munich until the 19-year-old can leave hospital.
Her stepfather, Chris Beadle, who has returned to the family home in Radyr, Cardiff, said: "She's only a slight girl to start with, but the lap belt has pulled so tightly that the front part of her waist was pushed up against her spine.
"The doctor described it like a bullet hole.
'Freak accident'
"He was fascinated from a medical point of view. He'd never seen anything like it before".
Jessica, who is studying at Pontypridd College, had had the stud since she was 15.
But Mr Beadle said his step daughter was determined to make others with piercings aware of the possible risks.
Jessica Collins's wounds The wounds on Jessica's stomach as she recovers in hospital
"When she started realising what had happened, she was adamant that she didn't want it happening to anyone else," he said.
He said many of Jessica's friends had removed their own studs since the crash.
"It was a freak accident. I can't say I've ever heard of anything like this before, but for a decorative bit of jewellery, it's not worth the risk."
A friend who was driving, Devdutt Shaftri, of Butetown, Cardiff, received a broken leg in the crash, and has been released from hospital.
The family say police told them nobody was at fault for the crash.
Jessica was in intensive care for five days, and is not expected to return to the UK until the week after next.
They also make the wearer look like a cheap slut.
Exactly why I keep some teens in my trunk in wintertime.
Ouch.
Oh, but the piercings are soooo cuuuuute!
She just sat on her keys.
Oh, but the piercings are soooo cuuuuute!
ping to the thread and #7 in particular ... I suspect you might have an excellent story or two about jewelry and body parts.
Easy to picture when people come with their own shrapnel.
My daughter (already an adult) was thinking of getting one of those tattoos above her butt until she found out they were referred to as "Tramp Stamps".
Her bellybutton piercing nearly went all the way through to her "tramp stamp"?
I recall George Carlin having a bit about body piercings in one of his comedy routines, back a few years ago. One of his observations was that if the wearer of a nose stud were punched in the right spot, the stud would staple his nose flat.
If you’re wearing the seatbelt over your belly you’re going to suffer some serious internal injuries even without a piercing. Seatbelts are supposed to be worn across the hips.
Do something stupid with your hair? It'll grow back. Want to wear clothes that make you look like an idiot? We can go home and change.
I think that my boys will test the limits, but I also think that they'll stay pretty clean-cut. They're not being raised to believe that "making a statement" is OK.
Tattoos and piercings are where the line is, IMHO. I wanted to get an earring when I was a kid. Dad said that he'd get me a dress to go with it. End of story.
Also, speaking of making statements....went to a kid's festival at a local college this weekend - clowns, booths, etc etc etc. Fun for the whole family. There was one college kid there, dressed in clothes five sizes too big, and with a bright red afro that literally, he'd need to turn sideways to get through an average door with. I thought that he was one of the local performers.....
Nope. He was "making a statement". "Hey! Look at me, I'm an idiot!" I mean, this kid was funny looking, even for college. Made an impression on my oldest, he's still talking about the "silly man".
You are kidding? Interesting tidbit.
And I’m afraid that in this self-induglent society we live in, most teens would rather give up the seat-belt than the piercings.
I told my daughter that she could decide whether top pierce her ears when she turned 16 after a heated discussion shortly afte rthe divorce. I figured that she would be mature enough to make a reasonable decision by then.
She waited a few months after she turned 16 to remind me. I called her mother inthe call phone and made sure she wouldn’t have a problem with it, then made good on my word.
at one point she worked in a jewelry department piercing ears.
inre #26
that could hurt!
Then the stud would really be dangerous. You could put an eye out.
That was exactly my thought: what was her seatbelt doing up over her belly button? I’ll give her the benefit of a doubt, though, and presume that it may have slipped up there during the accident - something that is quite conceivable given the shape of a thin woman who has some hips. Me, on the other hand - well, there’s little chance of the belt slipping up over my beer belly.
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