- PHILADELPHIA - Some may wonder
what William A. Bartron was thinking when he repeatedly fired a nail gun
into his skull in an apparent attempt to relieve the pain of a severed
hand.
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- While it's unclear whether Bartron was trying to end
his life or manage his pain, experts say he almost certainly reduced the
pain to one of his wounds, unwittingly or not.
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- Bartron, 25, accidentally cut off his left hand at the
wrist with a portable miter saw while performing remodeling work in the
basement of a Bethlehem, Pa., home Tuesday, police said.
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- In what may have been an effort to alleviate the pain
from the dismemberment, Bartron fired a pneumatic nail gun into his skull
at least a dozen times and possibly as many as 30 times, according to a
police report.
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- About 15 of the one-inch nails entered the cranium, the
report said.
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- "This is an extreme case, but he actually did something
that probably decreased the pain in his hand," said Dr. Kevin Dolan,
an assistant professor of pain management at the University of Pennsylvania
Medical School.
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- Bartron was taken to the trauma unit at St. Luke's Hospital,
in Fountain Hill, Pa., where he underwent surgery to reattach his hand.
No further information about his condition could be obtained from the hospital,
which is near Bethlehem.
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- "Out of respect for the family's wishes we cannot
comment," said hospital spokeswoman Diane Russo.
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- Efforts to reach the Bartron family were unsuccessful.
Bartron is married and lives in Lehighton, according to police.
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- Dolan, of Penn's medical school, explained the pain management
theory that tricks the brain into ignoring an injury.
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- "The brain is capable of processing only so much
information at a certain time," said Dolan. "There's a concept
of 'distractibility' where the pain information from one injury is prioritized
over that of another injury."
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- Bartron was found Tuesday afternoon by Larry Lang, the
owner of the home on the east side of Bethlehem whose basement was being
remodeled.
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- The work on the recreation room was nearing completion,
said a woman who identified herself as Lang's mother-in-law, and the remodelers
were performing the "finishing touches."
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- Lang, who went downstairs to check how work was progressing,
said he found Bartron largely as a result of his inquisitive dog.
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- "My dog walked around an area covered by a tarp
and kind of woke (him up)," Lang told the Allentown Morning Call.
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- "If he did not make a noise when the dog woke him
up, he would have bled to death."
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- Lang administered first aid with the help of Bartron's
boss, Greg Soltis, of Construction With Concern, of Walnutport, Pa., who
arrived a short time later.
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- They discovered Bartron's severed hand nearby, which
they placed in a plastic sandwich bag.
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- While tending to Bartron's wrist, which was bleeding
profusely, Lang and Soltis noticed several nails protruding from Bartron's
skull.
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- Officials at the scene said Bartron told Soltis he had
intentionally shot himself in the head with the nail gun.
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- "As reported by Mr. Soltis, the victim told him
he shot several nails into his head with a pneumatic nail gun because he
couldn't stand the pain from the amputation," said Herbert Goldfeder,
deputy commissioner of the Bethlehem police.
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- Because Bartron had to undergo reattachment surgery,
the nails in his head were not removed to avoid further trauma, Goldfeder
said. Once he's recovered sufficiently from surgery, the nails will be
removed, hospital officials told Goldfeder.
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- Bartron remains in the trauma unit of St. Luke's in stable
condition, according to Goldfeder.
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