Bra Buffers Bullet in Life-Saving Fashion

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.: A Georgia woman escaped serious injury from a .45 caliber bullet by, well, wearing a bra.

Atlanta resident, Debbie Bingham, 46, was visiting with family in St. Petersburg to ring in the New Year. Ms. Bingham was outside with her son and daughter preparing to watch the local fireworks.

The group was sitting at a picnic table and listening to music when Bingham felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder around 11:40PM.

Bingham's daughter Solanda Bingham ,30, was the first to notice blood soaking through her mother's white shirt and immediately shouted "My mother's been shot. My mother's been shot."

Debbie Bingham was taken to a local hospital in St. Petersburg. The bullet was found to be piercing the woman's bra strap. It was removed by doctors by cutting the bullet free from the bra strap. Ms. Bingham received five stitches and has a wound that is described as a "big scratch with bruising."

George Kajtsa, a spokesman for the St. Petersburg Police Department, said Ms. Bingham's injury could have been "much more severe had it not been for her bra strap."

St. Petersburg police are investigating the incident. It is believed that someone had fired a gun into the air during New Year's celebrations and that it was technically a stray bullet that lodged in Bingham's bra strap.

Police are searching for the shooter to rule out intentional harm and determine if the incident was truly and accident, if Bingham was "simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Shooting a weapon inside St. Petersburg city limits is a misdemeanor that carries a maximum fine of $1,000 and one year in jail, according to the police.

Although shaken by the incident, Bingham said she is just thankful for the gold-colored bra that slowed the bullet's impact.

She told local news station WTSP-TV "It was a very cheap bra. It wasn't very expensive, and I'd love to have a couple more of those bras."

Although unusual, Bingham's experience is not necessarily unique. In August of 2005, a twenty-four year old accountant in Great Britain was caught in the crossfire between rival gangs in the center of London. The woman, Helen Kelly, escaped serious injury because the bullet hit the underwire of her bra and was deflected away from her chest. Kelly collapsed after being struck and the bullet did cause minor injuries but it was another incident where a bra saved the wearer from severe or fatal wounds.

As for Bingham, she is just happy the situation turned out the way it did and is looking forward to the New Year.

Sources:

"Who needs body armor? I'm wearing a bra!" AP, www.msnbc.com, 1/5/2007.

"Wonder bra that stopped a bullet," Nicole Martin, The Telegraph, UK, 8/10/2005.