ShawneeDispatch.com

Photo by Kevin Anderson

After doctors removed the nail in George Chandler's head, the wound was closed with four staples.

Photo by Kevin Anderson

The nail in George Chandler's head is very clear in the x-ray that doctors took at the hospital.

Photo by Kevin Anderson

A doctor with a claw hammer removed a 2 1/2-inch nail that was logged in George Chandler's skull.

George Chandler knew he had survived a remarkable experience after a 2.5-inch nail was accidentally shot into his head.

"I thought, once I got in the hospital and the doctor got it out with a hammer, I knew it was a big deal and it was kind of funny," he said Wednesday.

But the 60-year-old never expected this.

The accident occurred Friday, and after a local TV station did a story about it Monday, Chandler and his wife, 30-year residents of Shawnee, they started receiving calls from all over.

"I can't go around the block with the dog without people coming out and saying 'I don't know whether to say hi to you or ask for your autograph,'" Chandler said, jokingly adding "I say 'You better get the autograph now while it's free.'"

The nationally-broadcast "Today" TV show called at noon Tuesday, and an hour and a half later, Chandler and his wife, daughter and two grandchildren were on the way to the airport to head for New York City for Wednesday morning's show.

The Chandlers have had calls from TV stations from Canada, one from Australia and from FOX News. The Late Show with David Letterman also called, though they haven't called back to verify.

"The phone started ringing at five minutes to six this morning for radio stations," Chandler said.

All asking for a retelling of his remarkable story.

It all started out simply enough. Chandler, retired from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, set out to build some lattice-work on his deck so his wife, Barbara, could plant wisteria and other vines for shade and privacy.

His friend, Phil Kerns, came over to help. At about 1:20 p.m. Friday, Kerns was standing on a small ladder using his nail gun, while Chandler held the lattice and level.

"I didn't notice, but the nail gun hose got stuck in a pool toy, and (Kerns) yanked on it," Chandler said. "And about the time that he yanked on it, I raised up a little bit, and the gun went off when it hit me in the head."

The nail went right through Chandler's baseball hat, pinning it to his head, and at first, the friends weren't sure where it was.

"At that time, he asked me, 'Did you see where that nail went?'" Chandler said. "And I said, no, but I had a little sting here on the left side, so I said 'Did the nail just go by right here?' And he looked and said, 'No - no, it's in there.'"

Sterns called 911, and the dispatcher told him to leave the nail in and have Chandler sit down.

"It stung, but at the time it happened, I thought it probably just glanced off my head, I didn't know that it went in," Chandler said. "But it really didn't hurt; I guess they say the brain doesn't feel pain."

When an ambulance arrived, Chandler was put neck brace on and put him on stabilizing board. He said he felt fine, though he did momentarily lose consciousness with the bright sun in his face and a lot of people talking to him.

"I never was a person that could stand blood, so since there wasn't really any, I was fine," he said. "If there had been, I probably wouldn't have made it to the hospital."

Chandler was taken to Overland Park Regional, where he took a CAT-scan - his hat still nailed to his head - that showed the nail had narrowly missed some important areas in his brain. But the nail wouldn't be removed immediately, so he was given a hospital room.

"The doctor said he had an emergency before me that was more serious than what I had, and it was going to be a couple hours," Chandler said. "About 5 o'clock, he came up to my room and said 'George, we're going to have to take that nail out,' and I said, 'Well, I'm ready.' I thought we were going to go down to an operating room, and he said 'no, I'm going to go ahead and dig it out here in this room with you.'"

Chandler laid his head on a table, and the doctor first attempted to remove the nail with some pliers.

"He couldn't quite grip it, and he would slip off, and I would hear the noise," he said. "He looked at me and he says, 'You know George, what I really need is a claw hammer.' And I'm thinking, 'No, this guy's kidding me now.'"

But the doctor found a hammer from a maintenance man, sterilized it and took about five minutes to pull out the nail. Chandler got four staples in his head to close the wound, which were to stay in seven to 10 days, and remained in the hospital over the weekend.

With all of the excitement since the incident, Barbara Chandler laughs when she explains her husband was supposed to be taking it easy for a week.

"But he's not the easiest one to keep down," she said.

Chandler said he's had some little headaches and light sensitivity, but nothing a little ibuprofen couldn't handle. He was scheduled for a second CAT-scan Thursday and another doctors appointment Friday.

The Chandlers continue to field calls; they had 50 messages waiting for them when they returned from New York Wednesday night. And Ripley's Believe it or Not wants to buy the nail and the hat, and the hammer, if they can track it down.

Though it was a very close call, Chandler said he didn't think the incident would put him off from ever using a nail gun again.

"No, it was just a freak accident, you know," he said. "I raised up at the same time that (Sterns) probably just lost a little balance, and it was just one of them things."