X-Ray of Hand After Holding Firecracker: Legit?

[Ivan Seeking]

Tsu happened to see this and said that it looks legit [i.e. it appears to be a genuine x-ray of a hand].

"This is what happens when you hold the firecracker for too long."

http://my.break.com/content/view.aspx?ContentID=408271

 

[brewnog]

Looks pretty viable.

I suppose the idiot was pretty heavily Entonoxed to have held still enough to have had this taken. I wonder where the palm around the ring and little finger is?

 

[Moonbear]

I wonder where the palm around the ring and little finger is?

I'm wondering where the ring finger is, period. Ends of the index and middle finger are gone too. At least he still has a thumb...whether it'll ever work again, who knows, but if they can sew together what's left, it's a lot easier to function with only a thumb and pinky finger than without a thumb.

 

[brewnog]

That's assuming he still has some method of actuating his thumb...

Hook anyone?

 

[dst]

Good thing it was an x-ray, I thought I'd be looking at a picture of a bloodied stump on here.

I count 5 fingers but are they supposed to show up as right angles? :p

 

[Moonbear]

Good thing it was an x-ray, I thought I'd be looking at a picture of a bloodied stump on here.

I count 5 fingers but are they supposed to show up as right angles? :p

Those things you're counting as five fingers aren't fingers, they're the bones that form the palm of the hand. Look at the relation to the wrist bones for perspective. The palm of the hand is split open between the 3rd and 4th digits. There's only a fragment left of the ring finger.

You can still see the shadow of soft tissue between the thumb and first finger, but no telling how badly damaged that is. You can't tell that from an x-ray. I don't see much shadow of soft tissue around the bones that are there past the palm, so I'm not sure what's left.

For reference, here's an x-ray of a normal hand (note that it's the left hand and the one in the OP is the right hand, so the thumbs are on the opposite sides of the images).
http://www.davidlnelson.md/Xrays_normal_hand_PA.htm

 

[dst]

Those things you're counting as five fingers aren't fingers, they're the bones that form the palm of the hand. Look at the relation to the wrist bones for perspective. The palm of the hand is split open between the 3rd and 4th digits. There's only a fragment left of the ring finger.

You can still see the shadow of soft tissue between the thumb and first finger, but no telling how badly damaged that is. You can't tell that from an x-ray. I don't see much shadow of soft tissue around the bones that are there past the palm, so I'm not sure what's left.

For reference, here's an x-ray of a normal hand (note that it's the left hand and the one in the OP is the right hand, so the thumbs are on the opposite sides of the images).
http://www.davidlnelson.md/Xrays_normal_hand_PA.htm

Oh sorry, I wasn't paying much attention. Jesus Christ, it looks even worse now.

Wonder what it feels like? Aside from... bad?

 

[Moonbear]

Wonder what it feels like? Aside from... bad?

One can only hope it was so bad the patient promptly passed out and didn't regain consciousness until sufficiently dosed with some serious painkillers. Chances are, he's losing at least the right side of his hand in addition to the fingers already gone...you can almost see the shreds of tissue in the x-ray.

 

[dst]

Well, if you wish to see a real life version of the Simpsons -

bartgibby.com/2007/11/20/bart-gibbys-hands-warning-graphic-content/
GRAPHIC CONTENT (not too horrid but some people might be put off)

 

[Moonbear]

At least whoever the owner of that hand was wasn't as stupid as this guy.

Abstract;A 25-years-old man with urinary retention was hospitalized because of urethral injury by explosion of a firecracker which had been hysterically inserted into the distal urethra by himself in des peration. MRI revealed the anterior urethra was devastating. A urethral catheter was unable to be indwelled, therefore suprapubic cystostomy catheter was placed. The urethra, however, became recovered without stricture after conservative treatment. This is the first case report of anterior urethral injury by explosion of a firecracker.

http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200007/000020000799A1011882.php

 

[Danger]

At least whoever the owner of that hand was wasn't as stupid as this guy.

http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/article/200007/000020000799A1011882.php

That's just wrong.
You guys definitely have more powerful firecrackers than we did. (Did being meaningful because firecrackers were outlawed in Canada about 30-35 years ago.) The best that we had were the 3" checkers, and you could light those off in your hand all day.

 

[Moonbear]

Unfortunately, our fireworks laws vary from state to state, so even in states where they're banned, you can travel to a neighboring state and get ahold of them. It's illegal to use them in another state (sometimes even in the state they're sold in, which is really mind-boggling), but that doesn't stop people from blowing themselves up anyway. There's always an illegal fireworks trade around July 4th, and idiots who try to make their own too. Combine that with children, alcohol, setting them off in streets where the drivers don't know you have live fireworks lit in the middle of the road, and you have some really dangerous combinations.

The burn ward is always busiest on July 4th, between the fireworks and bbq accidents. I wonder if the flaming kettles of oil...um, turkey deep fryers...are leading to Thanksgiving catching up at all?

 

[NeoDevin]

That's just wrong.
You guys definitely have more powerful firecrackers than we did. (Did being meaningful because firecrackers were outlawed in Canada about 30-35 years ago.) The best that we had were the 3" checkers, and you could light those off in your hand all day.

Yeah, it's probably for the best that we don't have those anymore, since most of my `friends' from high school thought it was a good passtime to shoot roman candles and the like at each other.

 

[turbo]

The burn ward is always busiest on July 4th, between the fireworks and bbq accidents. I wonder if the flaming kettles of oil...um, turkey deep fryers...are leading to Thanksgiving catching up at all?

My neighbor has a large hard fused patch in his gravel driveway. His son decided to use the turkey deep fryer to deep-fry bacon. The oil was hot, the bacon was cold, and the oil spattered and ignited. His son got a lid on the pot and temporarily got the flames quelled, but when he grabbed the pot and tried to move it away from the new huge $35,000 garage, the lid slid off and let air into the pot, reigniting the oil. He threw the pot away from himself and didn't get burned (luck!) but he gave me a whole new perspective on "scorched earth".

 

[turbo]

Yeah, it's probably for the best that we don't have those anymore, since most of my `friends' from high school thought it was a good passtime to shoot roman candles and the like at each other.

My friend Bill and I thought it was great fun to launch M-80s with wrist-rockets and watch (and hear) them explode in the gorge below the waterfalls.

 

[JasonRox]

I used to make my own firecrackers with gun powder from caps layered with the powder off matches.

We would spend days constructing them. Some were quite large. Usually we made small ones so we had more to play with.

A friend of mine told another friend how we made them. Then that other person ended up making one and blowing up his hand.

Now, when I look back, it's really amazing how dangerous that was. Sometimes we would use the match heads instead of the powder in a certain way so that the match heads would fly off in the air lit up like fireworks but more like balls of fire. That was really cool. Good thing it didn't go too far because we started constructing them so that the whole thing blew up at once rather than in layers.

 

[Cyrus]

My teacher for Materials told us about how his friends made a pipe bomb back in high school long time ago. They told him to check out what he had done, since he was known for doing things with explosives. When he went to his friends garage he found a big pipe that had been packed with a few boxes of gunpowder. He is an explosives nut, so he crimped the ends of the pipe for them and attached a fuse. It was so heavy it took two people to carry it out into the woods. They found an old cast-iron stove and one of his friends put it in there, but the idiot lit it without saying anything. After he told my teacher, how long do you think the fuse will last? My teacher started running as fast as he could. After they realized he was coming back they started running as well. The blast was so big that it launched the cast iron stove into the air and took 4 seconds to land. It also cut down a huge oak tree that it was next to, which landed on two of his friends who were hiding behind it and shot shrapnel all over the place.

A few days later some kids in school heard about this and tried to make one themselves. The only problem was when they tried to crimp the ends they did not do it the same way, and they set off some powder between the tube as they were pinching the ends. It caused the entire thing to blow up in their garage and killed them all.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I have a few quick stories about gunpowder.

At about age twelve, maybe younger, I was screwing around and ignited a little pile of gunpowder collected from a couple of packs of firecrackers. Not realizing how much energy would be released, I was sitting too close and the entire business flared-up right in my face. I was temporarily blinded. I managed to work my way over to a water facet and started rinsing my eyes, and eventually I began to see again, but for a few minutes there I thought I might be blind - a very terrifying experience.

Another time I had a few pounds of gunpowder purchased for loading bullets [we used to load our own with a very hot powder]. I was no longer loading bullets and wanted to dispose of the powder, so I decided to torch it all off. Even though I had gone to a good bit of effort to ensure that things were safe, just as I lit the fuse, out of the corner of my eye I saw our border collie in the distance running at full speed and making a bee-line for the powder. And of course, as if I had engineered the entire episode, the dog went right for the pile and literally leapt over it just as the thing ignited. By shear luck she was just a fraction of a second ahead of the fireball.

I knew a guy whose brother-in-law tried to dispose of a bag of gunpowder - about a half grocery bag full - in his fireplace. The fireball extended far beyond the fire pit and got him in the face. All of the hair on his face, and the hair on his head back to the crown was gone. He burned all of the mucus membranes in his nose and eyes and had to lie on the bed with his nose draining into a pan for most of a week.

 

[dst]

My teacher for Materials told us about how his friends made a pipe bomb back in high school long time ago. They told him to check out what he had done, since he was known for doing things with explosives. When he went to his friends garage he found a big pipe that had been packed with a few boxes of gunpowder. He is an explosives nut, so he crimped the ends of the pipe for them and attached a fuse. It was so heavy it took two people to carry it out into the woods. They found an old cast-iron stove and one of his friends put it in there, but the idiot lit it without saying anything. After he told my teacher, how long do you think the fuse will last? My teacher started running as fast as he could. After they realized he was coming back they started running as well. The blast was so big that it launched the cast iron stove into the air and took 4 seconds to land. It also cut down a huge oak tree that it was next to, which landed on two of his friends who were hiding behind it and shot shrapnel all over the place.

A few days later some kids in school heard about this and tried to make one themselves. The only problem was when they tried to crimp the ends they did not do it the same way, and they set off some powder between the tube as they were pinching the ends. It caused the entire thing to blow up in their garage and killed them all.

Jesus Christ, where is this, downtown Iraq? :O

My only "major" experience would be looking over a few hundred grams of sodium chlorate/sugar/sulphur mix (rocket fuel, or at least was going to be) and having the whole lot blow up when I turn around (I was holding a naked flame in the other hand), causing more or less a pillar of fire to shoot up for a good few seconds.

 

[Moonbear]

My teacher for Materials told us about how his friends made a pipe bomb back in high school long time ago. They told him to check out what he had done, since he was known for doing things with explosives. When he went to his friends garage he found a big pipe that had been packed with a few boxes of gunpowder. He is an explosives nut, so he crimped the ends of the pipe for them and attached a fuse. It was so heavy it took two people to carry it out into the woods. They found an old cast-iron stove and one of his friends put it in there, but the idiot lit it without saying anything. After he told my teacher, how long do you think the fuse will last? My teacher started running as fast as he could. After they realized he was coming back they started running as well. The blast was so big that it launched the cast iron stove into the air and took 4 seconds to land. It also cut down a huge oak tree that it was next to, which landed on two of his friends who were hiding behind it and shot shrapnel all over the place.

A few days later some kids in school heard about this and tried to make one themselves. The only problem was when they tried to crimp the ends they did not do it the same way, and they set off some powder between the tube as they were pinching the ends. It caused the entire thing to blow up in their garage and killed them all.

Jesus Christ, where is this, downtown Iraq? :O

I was wondering the same thing. What kids make pipe bombs for fun?! Were their summer camps run by Al Quaeda?

 

[Cyrus]

It was good ole state of Maryland about 15 years ago.

He got his masters degree in explosives in mechanical engineering.

 

[arunbg]

In my state of Kerala, every year there occurs the mother of all temple festivals (poorams) in Thrissur district. The festival climaxes with its hallmark fireworks, which are ear-splitting to say the least. To give you some idea, the noise levels nearby can go to 140db! Adjacent houses and shops have to seal off windows to avoid shattering. And it can last up to 4 hours.

I was there last year. Just a few days before the show, tragedy struck when fireworks in a temporary storehouse accidentally ignited, leading to the death of 7 people. The show had to be canceled, but there still was a mini display to dispose of the few remaining fireworks. Even that was a show to behold.

 

[arunbg]

That hand, oh that hand!
We were playing basketball a few weeks back, to relieve the stress of studying for ongoing semester exams. I had just stolen the ball from my friend and he came charging at me from behind. He tripped over my trailing leg, and fell awkwardly. Nothing more. But when he got up, I got the shock of my life when I saw what looked like a jutting broken forearm bone outlined clearly under the skin.

Surprisingly, he said he felt very little pain. We rushed him to the college dispensary, where a fool of a doctor, after preliminary examination said that it was simply a swelling that would go away in a week. We were highly doubtful and consulted another doctor next day, who said an X-ray was necessary. Sure enough the X-ray showed up a completely broken bone, and he was sent home for immediate surgery. He still had very little pain and he was joking and smiling all the way. My friend now has 6 inch steel rods in his left arm and is now writing the supplementary examinations at college. Some fall!

 

[Huckleberry]

I was wondering the same thing. What kids make pipe bombs for fun?! Were their summer camps run by Al Quaeda?

It's quite common for kids to make explosives, or at least it used to be when I was in school. I knew one guy that was making a bomb with match heads and was stuffing the casing between his legs when it ignited. He was very lucky and only had some burns on his thighs. Also, it's not just kids that play with this stuff.