# Just a reminder, Unplug Power Tools



## Thurman (Feb 9, 2009)

If you own an electric powered brad nailer, as I do, PLEASE remember to unplug it when you are not using it--even for a minute. A local 22 month old boy picked up his Dad's, which was plugged in and turned ON and shot himself in the chest. The brad nail went just to the left of the Sternum, below the skin line and is into his heart. He is in critical condition at this time and the local Dr.'s here, which do heart surgery, are considering flying him to another hospital for surgery. Just one second in this child's life is all that it took. Thanks for reading, David


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

Ouch...I always unplug my power tools
Even when they are in the addition & that door is locked...son can't reach

We have had 2 sets of twins die in MA - drowning
So with a pool wife has been "making sure" I do not leave him near the pool alone


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## LateralConcepts (Jun 6, 2010)

Thurman said:


> If you own an electric powered brad nailer, as I do, PLEASE remember to unplug it when you are not using it--even for a minute. A local 22 month old boy picked up his Dad's, which was plugged in and turned ON and shot himself in the chest. The brad nail went just to the left of the Sternum, below the skin line and is into his heart. He is in critical condition at this time and the local Dr.'s here, which do heart surgery, are considering flying him to another hospital for surgery. Just one second in this child's life is all that it took. Thanks for reading, David


Sad and unfortunate. It's always important to think when using, storing, tools, etc. My little brother is a finish carpenter. About 3 years ago he worked with a guy that was climbing a ladder with a pneumatic gun, lost his balance, fell off the ladder, and shot himself in the head. Without spelling out all the bloody details, and to make a long story short, he was dead in an instant.


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## Red Squirrel (Jun 29, 2009)

I've never worked with nail guns but I can imagine how dangerous they can be if misused. 

I tend to keep my tools plugged when changing bits/blades but I should probably really stop doing that. I'm careful and I'm alone (no kids or other people that could come in and get hurt), but it only takes once for an accident to happen. 

When I build my shop, every receptacle will have a switch, so I can easily switch off power tools. If it's more convenient, I'm more likely to do it. Often my tool is plugged further and it's more work to reach over and unplug, then to just put the tool down.


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## Mr Chips (Mar 23, 2008)

Scuba_Dave said:


> Ouch...I always unplug my power tools
> Even when they are in the addition & that door is locked...son can't reach
> 
> We have had 2 sets of twins die in MA - drowning
> So with a pool wife has been "making sure" I do not leave him near the pool alone


if your little guy is like mine, he always wants to "help". I always unplug my miter saw, remove the trigger safety pin, and lock the arm in the down position. can't be too careful, especially with something that can take an arm off in seconds


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## Proby (Jul 17, 2010)

Red Squirrel said:


> When I build my shop, every receptacle will have a switch, so I can easily switch off power tools. If it's more convenient, I'm more likely to do it.


Having all, or most of the receptacles wired to a switch near the door can make it easier to cut the power to your tools. As you mentioned, if it's simple you are more likely to do it. 

Bad things always happen at the most unexpected times. You leave to go get a glass of water when you don't even think your kid is home yet and the next thing you know he's got his hands on your Skilsaw. Having a switch to flip everytime you enter or exit the shop could be good for some situations.


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## Mr Chips (Mar 23, 2008)

GickieD said:


> _Hello Mr. Thurman,_
> 
> _My name is Gerri and I'm trying to find out if this story about this baby is true. It's circulating on Facebook and people are asking about him. There are a lot of people praying for this baby. Any information on him would be greatly appreciated. _
> 
> ...


i don't do facebook, but just did a quick Google and found the same story with 3 or 4 different victim names, and i only looked at the first page of search results. It's fishy for sure....is anyone asking for donations? I have my doubts on this one. I think it would be covered on my more places than just facebook if it was legit.

If it really happened you'd see it on CNN, MSNC and all the others craving for a story. Even Fox News would be running it, blaming Obama as the true cause.....


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## kommeat (Aug 8, 2010)

*Ok HOW does this happen????*

Okay not to be mean here but lets look at this realistically I own and use power tools ALL the time. I work as a handyman making cabinets, doing drywall, flooring, roofing, and other jobs. Basically whatever I can get for work. Now if anyone here has every USED a nail gun be it electric or air powered they know that ALL nail guns have built in safeties. These safeties require that the tip of the nail gun MUST be depressed firmly against a surface BEFORE the trigger can be pulled and allow the gun to fire a nail. Now after reading this article and before posting I went out to the garage and weighed all my nail guns. My 3 brad nailer's all weighed in between 4 and 6 pounds. The lightest being my electric one at 4.1 pounds This means that a 22 month old would have to PICK UP 4 pounds. TURN it to face his chest, PRESS it to his chest, and then PULL the trigger. Now I'm not saying that this COULDN'T happen, but I know for a fact that my 2 year old godson can barely pick this up and hold it for 30 seconds. Now in that 30 seconds the odds of him turning the gun holding it to his chest and pulling the trigger are somewhere around 1,000,000,000,000 to 1. So if this DID HAPPEN. I for one want to know who was holding the gun and pulled the trigger. An older child maybe. Like I said I'm not saying its impossible, but that IF SOMEWHERE there is a kid in the hospital with a nail lodged in his heart I'm just saying that he DIDN'T shoot himself he had help!!!!!!!


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## Proby (Jul 17, 2010)

kommeat, you are way off base and simply spreading rumors. Plenty of 2 year olds can pickup a nail gun, little kids always find ways to do bad things. The child could have been holding the gun against his body and then thumbed the trigger. Your "1,000,000,000,000 to 1" odds are just plain stupid. And for you to spread a rumor that someone else shot the child without any evidence is downright cowardly.


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## Thurman (Feb 9, 2009)

The story about the kid was relayed to me by a friend whom I know well. She stated that this was a child of church members here in S. GA. I also have seen this on Facebook, so now I'm wondering. I'll have to check with Cheryl on this for confirmation. "kommeat"--I'm not going to try and discredit what you stated. I own pneumatic nailers and two electric brad nailers. YES, there is a "fail-safe" on these guns which require the tip to be fully depressed before the gun(s) will fire. Could a 22 month old do this? I'll show you some 22 month old kids who could do this accidentally, and some who could play with the gun for an hour and never get it to fire, just the way kids are. Let's look at the story this way: I don't doubt Cheryl knows something about a kid getting hurt with a power tool or she would not have sent me an e-mail asking for prayers for a fellow church member. BUT-this was a good reminder to me, with two young and inquiring, grandson's to make sure I don't leave power tools lying around plugged in so they can get their evil little hands on them. David


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

A child tries to pick up a nail gun..hands on trigger area
Falls against the gun.....BAM
Seems very possible to me
Its when you don't think something will happen...and fail to take proper safety precautions
....that is when bad things happen


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## Mr Chips (Mar 23, 2008)

i think it's 100% possible, but i believe this story is total B.S. simply because if it's so widespread that we've had new members making their first post to inquire about it since they did a search and there are no other sources since it's not being reported by ANY NEWS AGENCY... 

In our 24 hour news cycle world that has been know to blow even huge stories now and then, the fact that NOBODY is reporting this story makes it seem a little fishy, to say the least....


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## itin1200 (Oct 10, 2009)

I find it interesting that 5 of the replies are first time posts.

And I could see this happening with a child. I'm a nurse in a Level 1 trauma center. "Freak" accidents happen often, even when safety precautions are taken.

Heck, 2 weeks ago I hit myself in the head with a hammer. Estwings are definitely not idiot proof.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

this was posted on a thread from Pray-ers (whatever that is)



> How many women have had the same thing happen? This is a hoax!!!
> Kayala Scott - her 22 month old son shot himself in the chest with a brad nailer
> Janet James ...her 22 month old son shot himself in the chest with a brad nailer
> Deedee Parsons Simpson...her 22 month old son shot himself in the chest with a brad nailer
> ...


apparently this has been around the block a few times. I would regard it as highly suspicious until a report from a mainstream news source can be found.

One thing that can be taken from this though is that you do need to use proper safety precautions in anything you do.


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

While this specific story may not be true
..the warning to be careful with your power tools around children is something that should be considered
As my son gets older I am going to have to lock mine up


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## SuezieQue (Aug 7, 2010)

Thurman...by any chance is Cheryl's last name DeWitt? There are posts with Cheryl DeWitt, Janet James, Kayala Scott and the list goes on. I have contcted Kayala and she states it is not her child and the poor woman has had 110 emails since Aug. 5th some even insulting her telling her she is an unfit mother. 

Kayala posted the same as others, but before you knew it, it became her 22 month old that was hurt and all she did was add the prayer request to her wall. Boy did this prayer ever get ought of hand.

It has become like this thing my grade school music teacher did. She had one child say something to another child an by the time each child whispered in the next childs ear... it was nothing that the first child told. So there you have it and how rumors begin.

_AND YES ALTHOUGH IT ALL GOT OUT OF HAND_ *IT IS A GOOD REMINDER TO ALL EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE KIDS..WHAT ABOUT THE LITTLE NEIGHBOR KID, HE JUST MIGHT COME WANDERING ON YOUR PROPERTY AND BE CURIOUS.*

*THANK YOU THURMAN FOR YOUR REMINDER!!!*

Sincerely, 
Suezie


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## Mr Chips (Mar 23, 2008)

SuezieQue said:


> So there you have it and how rumors begin.
> 
> _AND YES ALTHOUGH IT ALL GOT OUT OF HAND_ *IT IS A GOOD REMINDER TO ALL EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE KIDS..WHAT ABOUT THE LITTLE NEIGHBOR KID, HE JUST MIGHT COME WANDERING ON YOUR PROPERTY AND BE CURIOUS.*
> 
> *THANK YOU THURMAN FOR YOUR REMINDER!!!*


it's also a good reminder to remember not to believe everything you read on the internet !!!


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

Mr Chips said:


> it's also a good reminder to remember not to believe everything you read on the internet !!!


I don't believe you............


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## Mr Chips (Mar 23, 2008)

Scuba_Dave said:


> I don't believe you............


Well played GrassHopper....


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## Proby (Jul 17, 2010)

Yeah, I'm not even an electrician, I just play one on the internet. I am very handsome though.


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## Mr Chips (Mar 23, 2008)

BuckHunter said:


> Apparently this actually happened


Sorry, call me a jerk if you like, but I simply don't believe it, there are too many different occurances, and not a SINGLE story from any news agency, just these "friend of a friend" reports with at least six different names. The picture you linked to doesn't prove a thing. Show me a police report, or at least a link to a local Macon, Il newspaper that covered the story. This story would be big news if it really happened, especially with all the buzz it has gotten on prayer request websites and facebook. If there was ANY basis in fact, somebody would be using it to get ratings


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

Closed.....

http://urbanlegends.about.com/b/201...22-month-old-shot-himself-with-a-nail-gun.htm



> So far I've been unable to verify whether such an incident actually took place. There've been no mentions in online news venues, nor do any of the anecdotal reports on Facebook and Twitter cite sources or specify a location.


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## nap (Dec 4, 2007)

again, another first time poster claiming this is true. What is with folks that have never posted here all of a sudden stepping up and claiming this story is true?


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