Ederson Scheffer, a 17-year-old Brazilian teen, miraculously survived after accidentally shooting a nail gun into his own heart.
The incident happened in Santa Catarina, southern Brazil, while Ederson was using an automatic nail gun — a tool commonly used in carpentry work.
However, he accidentally discharged it into his own heart. On June 20, Ederson was taken to Hospital Dom Joaquim with a nail approximately four centimeters long lodged in his body.
“The nail was lacerating the right ventricle, nearly breaking into the chamber [one of the heart’s cavities],” explained cardiovascular surgeon Américo Kitawara, who performed Ederson’s surgery, to g1.
“If that had happened, there would have been nothing more to do. The bleeding was contained by the heart muscle. If the right chamber had opened, it would have caused liters of bleeding and, within seconds, there would have been no time for intervention.”
The doctor explained that when Ederson arrived at the emergency room, he was experiencing a condition called cardiac tamponade — a serious state in which blood collects between the membranes surrounding the heart, preventing the organ from functioning properly.
The nail was lodged in the chest bone, pointing toward the heart. “We removed it and opened the pericardium to explore the injury, stabilized it, and closed it. Then we removed all the clots around the heart, improving contraction and stabilizing the patient’s blood pressure.”
The surgery was a success, and Ederson was discharged last Thursday (26). “I was born again. I’m ready to keep chasing my goals,” he told g1.
To the outlet, Elizete Rocha Scheffer, Ederson’s mother, praised the medical team’s work: “They acted quickly and with great competence. They saved my son.”
Photo and video: Hospital Dom Joaquim. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
