Cell phone blocks stray bullet, saves man's life

St. Tammany News ^ | 11/19/08 | Matthew Penix

[jalisco555]

Driving his John Deere tractor Saturday, Richard was suddenly thumped with a pain “like a hard punch jumped up” and bit him in the heart.

He bent over and grasped his sweater. Then he took it off to get a closer look. A .45-caliber bullet casing tumbled out, clattered onto the tractor and fell on the ground.

He’d just been shot.

It was a stray bullet, and it tore through his sweater, leaving a 1/2-inch hole, where it entered into the top center pocket of his coveralls and hit his cell phone.

The bullet, coming in at a 45-degree angle, busted the phone in two, but the impact halted its trajectory just enough to save Richard’s life

“It’s a miracle,” he said Tuesday. “Normally I put the phone in my inside pocket, but for some reason that day was different. Now I know why.”

[Young Werther]

President Teddy Roosevelt was shot at close range by an assassin. The bullet was slowed down by an eyeglass case and the speech that he was preparing to give which was folded and contained in his breast pocket. The bullet broke his skin but did only minor damage. The bullet was removed and he delivered the speech!

One heck of a Prez!

[jalisco555]

Lots of structures beside the heart in the chest and upper abdomen that can cause someone to quickly bleed to death if struck by a bullet. Bullet wounds are terrible. Back in my old ER days we would much rather have a stabbing victim than a gunshot victim.

[jalisco555]

One heck of a Prez!

You got that right!

[The Brush]

one time, in band camp...

[calex59]

A .45-caliber bullet casing tumbled out, clattered onto the tractor and fell on the ground.

Does any reporter any where have a clue about firearms and ammunition and how they actually work?

[TADSLOS]

Does any reporter any where have a clue about firearms and ammunition and how they actually work?

LOL! Other than Ollie North, no.

[mad_as_he$$]

I have seen bullets do things I have never mentioned to anyone else because I am not sure I believed it myself. Back in the day we used to try and skip bullets across a lake like rocks. Let's just say magic could be involved and physics suspended for that moment.

[calex59]

In the old days it was Bibles, now it's cell phones.

Kinda reminds me of an old movie with James Garner called "Support your Local Sheriff". The last sheriff had been killed and they offer the job to James Garner and hand him a badge that was dented by a bullet. Says the new sheriff "Looks like this badge saved the man's life!". The Mayor says, "It sure enough would have if it hadn't been for all those other bullets flying in from everywhere!".

Guess this farmer was lucky many other "casings"(can reporters be any dumber)weren't flying in from everywhere.

[calex59]

I have seen bullets do things I have never mentioned to anyone else because I am not sure I believed it myself. Back in the day we used to try and skip bullets across a lake like rocks. Let's just say magic could be involved and physics suspended for that moment.

It is well known that bullets will ricochet off of water. It is one of the basic tenets of gun safety not to target practice by shooting at objects in the water, such as floating cans, sticks etc. Bullets will also do weird things when hitting trees like fly straight back at the shooter.

[jalisco555]

It is well known that bullets will ricochet off of water. It is one of the basic tenets of gun safety not to target practice by shooting at objects in the water, such as floating cans, sticks etc. Bullets will also do weird things when hitting trees like fly straight back at the shooter.

They can also travel much, much farther than a lot of people realize.

[mad_as_he$$]

OOps I forgot the kiddies might be reading this!!! My cousin was shooting a coke cans one day and set some up on the frame of an old truck. He missed and hit the frame with his 22. They bullet came back and hit him smack in the middle of the forehead. Now it was flattened out to a small dime size but left him with one hell of a red spot. He quit putting stuff on metal to shoot at. DUH!

[Leisler]

I think it is bunk.

.45’s don't travel far. Very heavy, very slow moving. One of the slowest moving round. Think the shot put of pistol rounds.

Anyways, say it came out of a long barrel. I'm not sure it would be much faster than a 4 inch pistol barrel as the powder isn't that much.

Supposedly he was hit at 45 degrees. I have doubts as to how he would know that.

What are the odds, that someone is pointing a .45 in the air at 45 degrees, and outside of a war zone full of .45 caliber weapons, it hits a guy? Anywhere?

This is a tall tale. A bored rural guy, getting his name in the paper.

[Dustbunny]

A .45-caliber bullet casing tumbled out, clattered onto the tractor and fell on the ground.

It is my understanding that a casing is what is left after the bullet is fired. So does this mean the guy shot himself?

[expatpat]

He was hit with a casing?

[cake_crumb]

He was shot by a bullet CASING?

[jalisco555]

It is my understanding that a casing is what is left after the bullet is fired. So does this mean the guy shot himself?

No, it means the reporter knows nothing about firearms.

[668 - Neighbor of the Beast]

Did it auto-dial 911?

[cake_crumb]

It MEANS that the reporter had no business writing this article to begin with.

[USMCPOP]

[AnAmericanMother]

Could be a .45 Long Colt - bullet's a little heavier than the standard for a .45 ACP, but after it's smacked a cell phone it might be a little difficult to tell.

The real problem is that the reporter is so ignorant that if ANY of the facts are correct, it's just dumb luck.