# Who has been shot the most times and still survived? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 5, 2007, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604 "2007-10-05T05:16:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/41 "2010-10-13T03:57:48Z")
> [@GiantRat](#): > > The undisputed champion, I’d suggest is Roy Benavidez. Benavidez was a US Army SF soldier in Vietnam. He took 37 bullet and bayonet wounds, plus a broken jaw and multiple blunt impacts, along with shrapnel. > > [Roy Benavidez - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Benavidez) That is what I came here to say. A real GI Joe. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/42 "2010-10-13T04:37:39Z")
Benavidez was one tough dude but his wounds weren’t all from bullets. > **[Benavidez](https://www.psywarrior.com/benavidez.html)** > [@](#): > > Benavidez spent almost a year in hospitals to recover from his injuries. He had seven major gunshot wounds, twenty-eight shrapnel holes and both arms had been slashed by a bayonet. Hate to keep a necropost going, but recently in Harlem, a guy was [shot](http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/08/police_help_bronx_man_set_new.html) by the cops and lived. It was reported that he was shot 21 times but his lawyer later claimed 23. People are claiming it’s gotta be a world record, but that seems to be idle speculation. ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/43 "2010-10-13T04:59:16Z")
> [@John\_DiFool](#): > > An acquiantance of mine many years ago who worked in an emergency room said that they once treated someone who had taken “dozens” of hits from 22 Long Rifle bullets, and survived. Since these aren’t exactly super high velocity rounds with hefty masses, they probably won’t kill you unless the central nervous or circulatory systems were directly impacted by one of the bullets. Depends on placement. Only took one to kill a childhood friend of mine. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/44 "2010-10-13T05:13:11Z")
> [@Fubaya](#): > > Benavidez was one tough dude but his wounds weren’t all from bullets. > > [Benavidez](http://www.psywarrior.com/benavidez.html) > > > [@](#): > > > > Benavidez spent almost a year in hospitals to recover from his injuries. He had seven major gunshot wounds, twenty-eight shrapnel holes and both arms had been slashed by a bayonet. Tell you what, you stand there and get hit 28 times with shrapnel and let me know how you are feeling. 😃 He was on tough SOB ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/45 "2010-10-13T05:22:19Z")
Spotted Horse could not be killed by a bullet, until he was. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/46 "2010-10-13T06:36:10Z")
[This guy](http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/08/19/2010-08-19_angel_alvarez_man_who_survived_23_gunshot_wounds_held_onto_firearm_cops_charge_i.html) was shot 23 times by the cops and appeared in court 11 days later. Looks like a real prince, too. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2010, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/47 "2010-10-13T07:42:21Z")
I can’t get to any webpages about reporter José Javier Uranga (most of the information about him is blocked at work due to being from newspapers, political organizations or universities). He got shot up by ETA in 1980, only once but for a (local) record amount of bullets. The doctors had to take out about half his intestines but there was little damage to essential organs; he’s still alive and retired recently after a long career. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/48 "2010-10-14T02:25:39Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > Anyways, what struck me is that it’s amazing that a person can get shot so many times (heck, even more than once or twice) and not be more injured than that. Movies/TV make it look like a gunshot is nearly immediately deadly, but it seems the reality is far from it. In contrast to on the stage, where someone can be ‘killed’ (but usually by stabbing, poison, or sword), but still manages to perform for another act or so – often with major speeches or even singing a solo while dying! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/49 "2010-10-14T15:15:22Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > …often with major speeches or even singing a solo while dying! Speaking of major speeches, scroll down to “Assassination attempt”: [Theodore Roosevelt - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_roosevelt#Election_of_1912) ---
**Author:** ![TerpBE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@TerpBE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TerpBE)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/50 "2010-10-14T15:26:38Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > [QUOTE=bbs2k] > Hah! > > (okay, not really funny) No, really. He survived seven lightning strikes and then shot himself to death. It’s not a joke. Thus proving, once again, that truth is often stranger than fiction. [/QUOTE] I heard he shot himself in the head. Four times. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/51 "2010-10-14T15:29:30Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > > [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > > > …often with major speeches or even singing a solo while dying! > > Speaking of major speeches, scroll down to “Assassination attempt”: [Theodore Roosevelt - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_roosevelt#Election_of_1912) I’ll see your Teddy R and raise you [Werner Herzog](http://www.hollywood.com/news/Herzog_Shot_During_Interview_/3478770): > [@](#): > > It was not a significant bullet. ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/52 "2010-10-14T19:57:48Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > > [@GiantRat](#): > > > > The undisputed champion, I’d suggest is Roy Benavidez. Benavidez was a US Army SF soldier in Vietnam. He took 37 bullet and bayonet wounds, plus a broken jaw and multiple blunt impacts, along with shrapnel. > > > > [Roy Benavidez - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Benavidez) > > That is what I came here to say. > A real GI Joe. **GiantRat** only beat you to the punch by three years. I bet if you work on your typing speed, you’ll get him next time! ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/53 "2010-10-14T20:02:04Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > > [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > > > Speaking of major speeches, scroll down to “Assassination attempt”: [Theodore Roosevelt - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_roosevelt#Election_of_1912) > > I’ll see your Teddy R and raise you [Werner Herzog](http://www.hollywood.com/news/Herzog_Shot_During_Interview_/3478770): > > > [@](#): > > > > It was not a significant bullet. Tough _and_ crazy is a helluva combination. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/54 "2010-10-14T21:01:15Z")
> [@](#): > > His body was riddled with bullets — in his neck, back, arms and leg, said Dr. Raymond Cava, a Grady Memorial Hospital surgeon. When it was over, he had been hit so many times that he had 24 entry and exit wounds. > > “He’s going to live,” Cava said. “ **I think he’s extremely lucky**.” I think that depends on how you look at it. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2010, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/55 "2010-10-14T21:12:40Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I’ll see your Teddy R and raise you [Werner Herzog](http://www.hollywood.com/news/Herzog_Shot_During_Interview_/3478770): > > > [@](#): > > > > It was not a significant bullet. It was air air rifle according to the link. I’ll warrant that is a translation error. “It’s only a pellet gun” or something like that. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/56 "2010-10-15T00:47:03Z")
> [@Dunderman](#): > > Crucifixion victims eventually die from asphyxiation, not from bleeding. > > What little I know of automatic weapons tells me that you usually don’t get hit with too many bullets from them, as the barrel tends to rise and what not, but given the hundreds-of-rounds-per-second rates of fire some of those things have, surely _someone_ must have taken a few dozen in the leg and lived? Stranger things have happened, haven’t they? This thread almost could be a poll. “How many bullets does it take?” One person whom I knew to exaggerate claimed to be hit 20 times while playing sniper games the Israel-Lebanon conflict in the 80’s. Expressing skepticism, he unbutton his shirt and showed me the scars. I only counted 15 holes, but I presume he didn’t want to take off his pants to show the rest. :smack: Also, he let me hold a 300 year old Torah that survived the Holocaust.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/57 "2010-10-15T01:05:09Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > Also, he let me hold a 300 year old Torah that survived the Holocaust.🙂 Wow. How great it would be to carry it at Simkhat Torah! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![GiantRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@GiantRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GiantRat)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604/58 "2010-10-15T01:23:09Z")
> [@SCSimmons](#): > > > [@Rick](#): > > > > That is what I came here to say. > > A real GI Joe. > > **GiantRat** only beat you to the punch by three years. I bet if you work on your typing speed, you’ll get him next time! Had I been alive when it happened, I would’ve typed it then… alas, dad was out there cutting elephant grass and trying to figure out that new-fangled M16. Glad to know you appreciate Benavidez;. fascinating story. I’ve always been somewhat terrified that there are people out there who can take a beating like that (and survive, continue to fight, etc). After the first dozen injuries, I’d likely say “uncle.” 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-been-shot-the-most-times-and-still-survived/421604.md?page=2)