Blinded by a....Frog????
http://www.dentonrc.com/localnews/st....ffe73119.html
Teen seriously wounded in potato gun incident
04/15/2003
By Donna Fielder / Staff Writer
A Denton teen is in critical condition after being shot in the face with a frog exploding from a potato gun, and his mother wants to know why the illegal weapons are available on the Internet.
Daniel Benjamin Berry, 17, was taken to John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth early Sunday after he looked down the PVC pipe barrel and was struck in the face by a frog.
"He is going to be blind in both eyes," said his mother, Lisa Berry, from her vigil in the critical care waiting room. "Some other kid ordered one [potato gun] over the Internet. They thought it was a toy. It’s not a toy. It’s a dangerous weapon."
The accident occurred about 1 a.m. near the Old Alton Bridge in the Copper Canyon area. Denton County Sheriff’s spokesman Kevin Patton said three teens took the homemade mechanism, which is considered an illegal weapon, to the bridge along with a supply of potatoes to fire for recreation.
"At some point, someone decided to fire frogs from the gun," Mr. Patton said. "And at some point, the gun misfired."
A crowd of teens had gathered to watch, the sheriff’s spokesman said.
"Mr. Berry was a spectator. He walked over to try to help with the misfire. He looked down the barrel and the gun fired on a delayed reaction. The frog struck him in the face."
He was taken by private vehicle to a hospital emergency room and later transferred to the Fort Worth hospital by Careflite helicopter, Mr. Patton said.
His mother said Daniel, who has broken and fractured bones in his face and will require surgery, told her he didn’t believe there really was a frog in the gun and looked to try to see it.
"He said it just went off. It was a misfire. It hit him square in the face," she said.
A potato gun is usually made with a PVC pipe with one end sealed, he said. A potato or other object is wedged down the open end. Some sort of propellant, in this case hair spray, is sprayed into a sealed chamber and ignited with a spark that can come from a striker or a wire attached to a battery. This one was sophisticated and fired at the push of a button, Ms. Berry said.
Mr. Patton said no charges would be filed.
"This is the first incident involving a potato gun that we have had to deal with," Mr. Patton said. "We had six teenagers in possession of a potato gun and one of them was critically injured. What are you going to do? This was an accident."