West Virginia Man Continues to Sleep After Being Shot in Head

According to the Associated Press via Yahoo News, in the early morning hours of Sunday, May 20, a man slept peacefully in his bed while his home and vehicle were being sprinkled with five small caliber bullets; unaware one bullet had just hit him in the head.

It was not until about four and a half hours later that the 37-year-old gunshot victim, Michael Lusher of Altizer, West Virginia, woke from his slumber and noticed blood streaking down his head.

Cpl. R.H. McQuaid, out of the Cabell County Sheriff's Department, stated the shooting occurred around 4:20 Sunday morning in the 5000 block of Altizer Avenue while the gunshot victim slept alone in his home.

Michael Lusher is currently receiving care at St. Mary's Medical Center. While it is necessary Lusher be watched for signs of brain swelling, Cpl. R.H. McQuaid did express his relief in regards to Lusher's head injuries not being "life-threatening". Thus, it is expected Michael Lusher will make a full recovery after being wounded in the head.

While the news of someone not realizing they had been shot may sound strange, Michael Lusher is not the first person to experience this.

According to Erin Ailworth and Ludmilla Lelis of The Orlando Sentinel, on December 29, 2005, Glen Thomas Betterly woke up from his sleep and noticed his bleeding head. Two hours after not being able to get the bleeding to quit or being able to figure out why his head was bleeding, the 53 year old man of Port Orange, Florida, decided to drive himself to the emergency room.

The cause for Mr. Betterly's bleeding? A bullet lodged in his brain after an apparent gunshot wound to his forehead. It is believed Glen Thomas Betterly was unknowningly shot by his girlfriend Emma Larsen. She committed suicide that same morning during a police phone call about the shooting incident.

In another recent story reported by Joanie Lum of CBS Broadcasting, a 17 year-old Chicago student was not fully aware he had been shot in the back on the way to his high school track practice last April.

The student, Cameron Kelly, heard the shot and felt a jab in his chest. But upon asking a stranger in his vicinity, he was told it did not appear he had been shot. So, he took the fleeting chest pain to be the result of a startled reaction to hearing the gun pop.

It was not until a schoolmate later told Kelly his back was bleeding, that he then realized what had truly happened.

Luckily though, the shooting did not result in any life-threatening or debilitating injuries for Cameron Kelly. Doctors said that "Kelly's muscle mass most likely helped reduce the bullet's speed".

Sources:

David Lavender of The Herald-Dispatch, "Man unknowningly shot in head", May 21, 2007; URL: http://www.herald-dispatch.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070521/NEWS01/705210347/1001/NEWS10

Associated Press via Yahoo News, "Man sleeps through gunshot to the head", May 21, 2007; URL: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070522/ap_on_fe_st/odd_sleeper_shot;_ylt=AoZtdkOXxhHE5rKXzkR.Pdqek3QF

Erin Ailworth and Ludmilla Lelis of The Orlando Sentinel, "Man didn't realize he was shot in head", Dec 30, 2005; URL: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2002711272_shot30.html?syndication=rss

Associated Press, "Man shot in the head, man drives to hospital; girlfriend kills self", Dec. 2005; URL: http://www.khnl.com/global/story.asp?s=4301801&ClientType=Printable

Joanie Lum, "High School Athlete Doesn't Realize He's Been Shot" April 12, 2007; URL: http://cbs2chicago.com/seenon/local_story_102181313.html

UPI Staff via Earthtimes, "Teenager didn't know he was shot in back", April 12, 2007; URL: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/51118.html