Beheaded human body can stay alive and kicking

A 25-year-old American construction worker called Finley Gage fell victim to an accident during excavation and earth moving. The consequences of the accident entered the medical annals as one of the most inexplicable mysteries. A heavy steel rod that 109 cm long and 3 cm in diameter pierced through his head when a dynamite stick went off far too close to a group of workers. The lethal object got into Gage’s cheek, knocking off one of the molars and putting a big hole in his brain. The most astonishing thing was that Gage was still alive after the accident. His injuries were not as severe as they could have been: he lost the molar and one of the eyes. Gage spent some time in hospital and got well almost in full. He still had most of his faculties and the ability to control his body. Some other cases mentioned below seem completely improbable from the medical point of view. There are stories about people who somehow stayed alive for a while after having their heads blown to smithereens.

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One of such incredible stories was reported by Boris Luchkin, a former noncommissioned officer who served in a reconnaissance unit of the Soviet Army during WWII. Luchkin remembered one mission behind enemy lines. A lieutenant who was in charge of their recon unit died on that day. The lieutenant stepped on a land mine and got his head blown away by the blast. Well, most of his head was gone save for part of the chin and a lower jaw. But the headless body was still standing. According to Luchkin, the lieutenant (or what was left of him) unbuttoned his jacket and produced a map with a mission itinerary. The map had been already smeared with blood. Finally, the lieutenant handed the map to Luchkin and collapsed.

Back then nobody believed that Luchkin had seen the commander standing with his head blown off. As it turned out, Luchkin was the only person who stood in close proximity to the lieutenant at the time of the explosion. Unlike Luchkin, no other soldiers could see the picture in all its gore and weirdness.

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