Surgeons reached for a claw hammer after a DIY enthusiast accidentally shot himself in the head with a nail gun.

George Chandler, 60, of Shawnee, Kansas, was nailing boards and lattice when a two-inch pin pierced his hat, shot through his skull and lodged itself in his brain. "The gun went off, and I just felt a little sting," Mr Chandler said. "I'm fine, really. I was very surprised and very lucky."

With his hat nailed lopsided to his head, he was rushed to hospital where a doctor removed the nail with a claw hammer from the maintenance department. Doctors told him he had barely avoided a traumatic brain injury, as the nail narrowly missed vessels tied to his eyesight, speech and physical movement.

Mr Chandler had been working with his friend Phil Kern when the nail gun's hose became entangled with a toy. As Kern tried to untangle it, the gun went off. At first the two men couldn't find where the nail went."He asked me if I saw where it went and I said I'm not sure, but I felt something on my head," Mr Chandler said.

Americans! Always finding new ways to shoot themselves!

Fresh from his trip to B&Q Dr Evans decided he could speed up the vasectomies.

The original was here.