# TIL about a man who was inflated and lived **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 30, 2025, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/til-about-a-man-who-was-inflated-and-lived/1020290 "2025-06-30T09:30:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/til-about-a-man-who-was-inflated-and-lived/1020290/1 "2025-06-30T09:30:40Z")
Thank goodness his accident happened in New Zealand or he’d have a crushing weight of debt to deal with on top of the pain and recovery. Imagine seeing someone just swelling up! That headline is an interesting choice too. > **[Man Enjoys Inflated Reputation After Impaled on High Pressure Air Hose](https://abcnews.go.com/Health/man-impaled-air-hose-enjoying-inflated-reputation/story?id=13693534)** > > Though a New Zealand man's body has been safely deflated after a freak accident that blew him up like a balloon, his reputation is now very much inflated. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/til-about-a-man-who-was-inflated-and-lived/1020290/2 "2025-06-30T09:39:06Z")
I think I remember hearing about it when it happened (that article is 14 years old), The man was lucky he wasn’t hurt worse and recovered so quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Love\_Rhombus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/love_rhombus/32/10694_2.png) [@Love\_Rhombus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Love_Rhombus)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/til-about-a-man-who-was-inflated-and-lived/1020290/3 "2025-06-30T10:33:29Z")
Yeah, I was amazed that he returned to work after only 2 weeks. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/til-about-a-man-who-was-inflated-and-lived/1020290/4 "2025-06-30T10:57:08Z")
Then evidently the injury wasn’t all that horrendous. Real scary-seeming, but if he really had been seriously hurt, he would not have gotten back to work so quickly. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/til-about-a-man-who-was-inflated-and-lived/1020290/5 "2025-06-30T11:27:23Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > Thank goodness his accident happened in New Zealand or he’d have a crushing weight of debt to deal with on top of the pain and recovery. Imagine seeing someone just swelling up! That headline is an interesting choice too. I recall that when, as a teenager, I went to work at a factory job. We got a safety lecture that told us about the danger of compressed air, and about a guy who died after an air hose entered his rectum. The intestine is a surprisingly fragile organ. This guy is lucky that the hose entered his buttock like an intradermal needle. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/til-about-a-man-who-was-inflated-and-lived/1020290/6 "2025-06-30T13:15:29Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > The intestine is a surprisingly fragile organ. I recall reading someplace that it’s about as stout as a wet paper towel. Which really makes me shudder when thinking of all the insert-object-in-rectum entertainment that so many folks get up to. :shiver: ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/til-about-a-man-who-was-inflated-and-lived/1020290/7 "2025-06-30T13:20:28Z")
[“I Was Impaled” (2012), Episode #3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2723174/reference/?ref_=ttep_ep_3) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/til-about-a-man-who-was-inflated-and-lived/1020290/8 "2025-06-30T13:24:10Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > **Then evidently the injury wasn’t all that horrendous.** Real scary-seeming, but if he really had been seriously hurt, he would not have gotten back to work so quickly. Maybe the article was an example of puffery. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/til-about-a-man-who-was-inflated-and-lived/1020290/9 "2025-06-30T13:50:56Z")
I’d say this whole thing was probably blown out of proportion. > [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > “I Was Impaled” (2012), Episode #3 One of my bros is a construction worker. On one occasion another guy fell off some concrete forms they were assembling and got impaled up the ass on a ~1" rebar sticking up. This was before the anti-impalement mushrooms\* were invented / required. Anyhow, two guys supported the guy’s weight while somebody else used a sawzall to cut the rebar off at about knee height. They laid him out on the ground to await the EMS folks. He ended up w a lifetime colostomy bag but was otherwise OK. EMS said their quick work and not trying to pull the rebar out probably saved his life. * * * \* [rebar mushroom cap - Google Image Search](https://www.google.com/search?q=rebar+mushroom+cap&hl=en&source=hp&oq=rebar+mushroom+cap&sclient=img&udm=2) ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2025, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/til-about-a-man-who-was-inflated-and-lived/1020290/10 "2025-06-30T17:49:57Z")
And his kid was named Spike!?!! That was almost clairvoyant. I can’t help but laugh. So sorry, I’m glad he got well but my stomach hurts I’m laughing so hard.