Carpenter From Minnesota, Survives 3.5-Inch Nail To The Heart

Eugene Rakow, 58, has a lot to be thankful for after he inadvertently shot himself in the heart with a 3.5-inch nail and survived. According to heart surgeon Dr. Louis Louis, a couple millimeters deeper and it would have been the final nail in the Minnesota carpenter’s coffin. "The sternum acted like a 2x4 in that it caught the nail and prevented the nail from going any deeper," Dr. Louis told MyFox9. "Once we were able to get a hold of it, we were able to work it out very carefully and then it was a simple two stitches to repair the injury in the heart."