World / Woman's breast implant deflects bullet away from her heart, saves her life

Ottawa: A woman who was shot in the chest avoided death after one of her breast implants deflected the bullet away from her heart, leaving her with only a fractured rib.  

The unidentified Canadian woman, 30, told medics that she was shot while walking down the street, causing her to 'feel heat and pain' in her chest, as well as see blood. 

However, doctors said her life was 'likely' saved by one of her fake breasts because the silicone implant lay over her heart and deflected the bullet's trajectory.

Incredible x-ray images show the bullet lodged in the side of the woman's breast, while another shows the removed implant which has been damaged by the bullet.

The woman was operated on by medics at the McLean Clinic in Mississauga, Ontario and her case was reported in the Sage journal.  

The experts said it was the first time they had come across a case where the bullet's trajectory had been altered by a breast implant. 

However, the surgeons said there were four other cases where a woman's breast implant had gotten in the way of the bullet, including two incidents where it was life-saving. 

However, in those cases, the implant seemed to slow the bullet down, rather than change its direction.   

In the unique case, the plastic surgeons, who included Dr Giancarlo McEvenue, said the woman took herself to the local emergency department after being shot. 

She was then transferred to their clinic and was said to be 'comfortable' and in 'no distress'.

The surgeons firstly removed the bullet and it was given to police so it could be forensically examined. 

The bullet, because it had been deflected, was 'not where expected' and was resting beneath the woman's right breast in her chest.  They then removed the woman's left breast implant and found a 'bullet tract' which aligned with the entry wound.  

On removing the right implant, the medics found it had flipped upside down. It was the dome of the implant which had been damaged.  

And because of the fact that the left implant had lain over the woman's heart, the medics concluded that a 'deflection must have occurred' and that the only possible source was the implant. 

Remarkably, besides the damage caused by the path of the bullet, the woman was left only with a fractured rib. 

The medical report added that the gun which fired the bullet was never recovered and the shooter remains unknown.

They concluded: 'We report here the case of a 30-year-old woman whose life was likely saved by deflection of the bullet by her silicone implants. 

'Our analysis of bullet trajectory to show the implant doing this is the first of its kind in the literature.'