Boob job saves woman's life as close-range bullet deflects off silicone implant

A woman shot at close range survived after her boob implant deflected the bullet.

The 0.40-calibre round was on target to pass through the 30-year-old’s chest wall and hit her heart.

But the silicone implant in her left breast made the bullet ricochet, mis­­sing all her vital organs and ending up on her right side.

Surgeon Giancarlo McEvenue, who treated the woman in Toronto, Canada, said: "The implant caused the change in the trajectory of the bullet.

“The bullet wound entry was on the left breast, but the rib fracture was on the right side.

An X-ray showed the bullet lodged in the woman's rib (SAGE medical journal)

“The bullet entered the skin on the left side first, and then ricocheted across her sternum into the right breast and broke her rib on the right side."

According to the researchers, the bullet might have struck the woman’s heart, had it not been for a deflection in the projectile’s trajectory due to the left implant.

“This implant overlies the heart and intrathoracic cavity and therefore likely saved the women’s life."

The implant saved her life (SAGE medical journal)

McEvenue’s study on the case, in SAGE medical journal, claims it is the first known case of a silicone implant changing the trajectory of a bullet.

Details of the 2018 shooting are unclear but he said the unnamed victim walked into A&E.

After being taken to a hospital, the victim was in a stable condition, with no additional injuries except for a single entry wound in the upper part of her left breast.

A scan showed the path of the bullet (SAGE medical journal)

Dr McEvenue said: “The patient reported walking down [the] street and feeling heat and pain in her chest, looking down and seeing blood. The trauma team was in disbelief at how well she was.”

Examination of the wound revealed thermal injury surrounding the bullet hole on the left breast, leaving medics to believe she was close to the gun when it was fired.

The woman suffered broken ribs and implants but was otherwise remarkably unscathed.

The woman was certainly not unscathed - but it could have been much, much worse (SAGE medical journal)

An X-ray taken shows the ‘copper-jacketed 0.40 calibre bullet’ embedded in her implant.

Surgeons offer two types of implants.

Both have a silicone outer shell, but one is saline-filled, and the other is silicone gel-filled.

They can vary in size, shell thickness, shell surface texture and shape, and are typically implanted to increase breast size or to rebuild breast tissue, such as after a mastectomy or other damage to the breast.

“The unfortunate story has a happy ending in that the patient only suffered minor injuries and made a complete recovery,” McEvenue said.