What does it REALLY feel like to be SHOT? Terrifying reality of global gun VIOLENCE
WE SEE it on our screens and read about it in the news, but what really happens to the human body when it takes a bullet?
What really happens to the human body when it takes a bullet?
They’re illegal in the UK, one of the leading causes of death in the US and posessed by children in some countries.
Whether you’re for, against or indifferent about the weapon - guns are a hotly contested topic.
And they’re everywhere.
In the media, action films and on video games - we’re confronted with gun violence on a daily basis.
We're confronted with gun violence on a daily basis, through the media, movies and video games
But what actually happens to the human body when it takes a bullet?
If we believed the Hollywood depictions, a ‘flesh wound’ to the leg or arm is less life-threatening and if you happen to be as agile as 007, you can even dodge them.
Of course, only a fraction of what we see on our screens is realistic, confirms former Army Green Beret Connor Narci.
In an article published on wired.com, Connor said: “Depictions of gun violence in fictional shows and movies are routine, and often wildly imaginative. Those depictions are distorting understanding of what bullets can—or can’t—do to bodies.”
For instance, a bullet travels twice as fast as sound.
This means the bullet would hit you before you even hear the gun fire off, which might make it a bit difficult to dodge it like James Bond.
Similarly, the apparently less-threatening ‘flesh-wounds’ can be just as deadly as a shot to the head.
The human body is riddled with vital arterial thoroughfares, and if a bullet punctures one of these it could be lethal.
In some countries, children as young as four use the weapons
Connor said: “Ruptures to the body’s arterial thoroughfares, (which can be found in) each arm, the groin, and… beneath each clavicle—can potentially result in massive hemorraging.
“The disruption of peripheral or junctional arteries can cause irreparable harm within minutes.”
As for the sensation, many gunshot victims describe an immediate numbness followed by an excrutiating burning sensation.
James Bond seems to have no difficulty dodging bullets
Connor explains: “Penetrating trauma and tissue damage from projectiles… have the potential to cut through arteries and large veins without alerting the body’s muscles to problems.”
“With bullets, it all comes down to shot placement and passage—which, without the gift of surgical precision that no gunman will ever have, is another way of saying it comes down to luck.”
According to Connor, in the US alone almost 300 people are shot each day in homicides, assaults, suicides, suicide attempts, accidental shootings, and police interventions.