How come some people can be conscience after receiving a gunshot wound to the head?

Question

I'm not talking about a gun shot wound where the bullet scrapes the person skull, I'm talking a bullet that actually penetrates the brain. Some people can be conscious for awhile until they die.

Answer 1

Favorite Answer

I've heard several stories of people shot in the head who didn't even die.  The one that springs to mind was a guy shot from behind in WWI, and the bullet exited through one of his eye sockets.  He lived a regular life! (Though he probably couldn't enjoy 3D movies. 8^< )

Apparently you can do some serious damage to some parts of the brain and it won't kill you.  The brain is still quite mysterious.  I've been told that a gunshot wound causes a huge pressure spike in the brain and that's what kills people, not the bullet.  If the bullet was shot from far enough away (like in a battlefield situation) the bullet might just drill a nice clean hole through the brain and not damage the surrounding tissue.

Answer 2

That is usually due to the fact that the bullet didn't hit a vital part of the brain. Some people don't die from a bullet to the head, they just live with severe mental trauma and/or paralysis