All language subtitles for [English] What Does it Actually Feel Like to be Shot [DownSub.com]

You hear the echoing of a gunshot.

People all around you begin to scream in panic.

You run and dive for cover.

As you breath heavily trying to get your bearings
you look down; you’ve been hit.

A pool of blood begins to soak through your
shirt.

How does getting shot feel?

Let’s find out.

We’ve all seen someone get shot in movies
or television shows, but do these depictions

have it right?

According to the CDC in 2017 around 40,000
people died from gun related deaths in the

United States alone.

However, many people also survive being shot,
and when they tell their story and what it

feels like, there are several commonalities.

That being said, everyone is different.

Some people have really high tolerances for
pain, while others not so much.

The sensations felt from being shot are most
certainly connected to the location of the

bullet wound, the size of the bullet, and
the person themselves.

But let’s look at different accounts and
see what most have in common.

Many gunshot survivors remember the initial
penetration of the bullet.

The strange thing is that they don’t remember
feeling any pain at first.

This is surprising since you’d think a searing
hot chunk of metal ripping through your skin,

muscle, and nerves would be excruciating.

However, for the most part, survivors of gun
wounds tend not to notice they have been shot

until they see blood.

One gunshot survivor remembers the impact
of the bullet feeling like someone had thrown

a small pebble at her.

The bullet hit her in the side, and all she
remembers was being in shock, but not feeling

any initial pain.

This may be surprising at first, but this
is not uncommon with people who have been

shot.

Many people recount that within the first
few moments of being hit by a bullet, they

didn’t feel anything at all.

Once the brain realizes that the body has
been injured, and it could be life threatening,

it goes into survival mode.

The brain dumps adrenaline into the bloodstream,
which causes the body to increase blood pressure

and heart rate, expand air passages to the
lungs, and maximize energy output.

This allows the body to reach superhuman levels
and to maintain homeostasis even under intense

circumstances.

The body obviously can’t keep this heightened
energy level up forever, but it does allow

the body to continue functioning even if it
has been mortally wounded.

The lack of pain is also connected to the
size of the bullet.

Larger bullets create larger holes, and tend
to inflict more pain.

However, you’d think a smaller caliber should
still cause severe pain, but the body is able

to do amazing things under life or death circumstances.

A smaller bullet such as a 9mm that doesn’t
break apart on entry will cause a lot less

pain than a large bullet that tears apart
into shrapnel.

Bullets that break apart within the body can
rip through surrounding tissue and muscle

around the initial entry point.

This causes widespread damage and pain in
the affected area.

The more damage caused, the more pain signals
will be sent to the brain, the more excruciating

the injury will be.

Once the initial shock starts to wear off,
and the body begins damage control, many gunshot

victims remember feeling a burning sensation.

This is pretty universal among survivors.

Some people describe the burning sensation
as feeling sort of like an intense bee-sting.

However, the initial burning does not decrease,
it just intensifies.

So, it feels like being stung by a bee with
a never ending stinger, like a needle just

continuously being pushed into your body.

The burning sensation seems to start the same.

When the bullet penetrates the skin the person
feels an impact, but the burn doesn’t start

immediately.

In fact, many gunshot survivors remember feeling
numb.

As the bullet enters their body they can feel
pressure, but it doesn’t hurt.

Then a numbness sweeps across their body,
radiating from the point that the bullet entered

from.

As the numbness and shock begin to fade, it
is replaced by the burning sensation.

Other than feeling like a never ending bee
sting some people have described the burning

as being incredibly hot.

Like someone was sticking an iron poker that
had just come out of a fire into their body.

Other gunshot survivors explain that the burning
sensation feels like someone is jamming their

finger into a raw blister.

The burning has also been described as an
incredibly intense sunburn that is concentrated

on a single point of the body.

Or like someone is taking a bunch of needles
and sticking them into them, except it’s

as if each time the needle enters the body,
it is just continuously being pushed further

and further in with no end to the sensation.

The burning seems to begin at the point of
entry, but then radiates outward.

This may be a small piece of shrapnel ripping
through the nerves.

But one thing is clear: for most people who
have been shot, the burning sensation is what

is felt after the brain becomes aware that
the bullet has entered the body.

Again every person’s body is different,
and therefore, will react in different ways

to intense trauma like being shot.

Soldiers that have been shot have recounted
that they had a very different experience

from a bullet ripping through them.

Most agree that when the bullet enters the
body there is an initial period of no pain

at all, but that doesn’t last long.

Instead of a slow burning, the bullet wound
goes from a slight pressure to excruciating

pain.

The reason that soldiers may experience a
more intense pain is because they most likely

have been shot by a higher caliber bullet
from a rifle.

The ammunition and guns used in military warfare
are probably not the same weapons that civilians

are shot by during senseless acts of gun violence.

This is not always true, but it would seem
that being shot by an assault rifle versus

a pistol with a smaller caliber bullet, would
correlate to a more intense pain.

One soldier who was shot says that the initial
shock wore off after a few seconds of a bullet

entering his stomach.

Then the pain immediately began.

He remembers it feeling like being hit by
a sledgehammer in the stomach over and over,

resulting in the worst incontinence possible.

However, with this intense pain, he said that
a warm numbness flowed through the rest of

his body, and eventually he blacked out.

On the other end of the spectrum some people
who have been shot say there was no pain at

all.

They didn’t feel a burning sensation, they
didn’t feel like they had been ripped open,

they felt nothing.

This could just be based on the person, but
there are actually a few accounts of people

being shot and saying that they didn’t feel
much pain.

One man who was shot in the calf by a .22
caliber bullet said that it didn’t hurt.

He chalks this up to the bullet being small.

It also probably had to do with where he got
shot, as there are no vital organs in the

calf.

Being shot in different areas of the body
seem to account for different sensations.

But what about being shot in the head?

You may be surprised to find that surviving
a gunshot wound to the head is not as uncommon

as you might think.

You might also expect that being shot in the
head would be excruciating, but this isn’t

necessarily the case either.

One man was accidentally shot in the head
by his wife while he slept.

Now accidentally shooting someone in the head
seems unlikely, but that is the story the

wife stuck too.

Either way, while her husband slept the gun
went off, and the bullet ripped through his

skull.

When the man awoke he didn’t even know he
had been shot.

Instead he complained to his wife of a massive
headache.

The headache was so bad the man asked his
wife to drive him to the hospital, which she

did.

According to the victim it wasn’t until
the nurse at the hospital informed him that

he had been shot in the head that he realized
what had happened.

At this point the wife ran out of the hospital
to avoid being charged with attempted murder.

However, this is not the only account of someone
being shot in the head and surviving.

There are a few commonalities between survivors
of gunshot wounds to the head.

The first is the intense headache that accompanies
the bullet penetrating the skull.

This is not surprising as they now have a
piece of metal lodged in their brain.

The other commonality is a ringing sound.

Most people who have been shot in the head
and survive say that they hear a constant

ringing in their ears.

Some describe the ringing as a unique sound
unlike anything they’ve ever heard before.

It is so intense and loud that it drowns out
almost all other noise.

Other survivors describe it as a really loud
buzzing like having bees inside your ears.

And yet others describe it like the ringing
of a bell in your head.

Regardless of the description of the ringing,
everyone agrees that it is incredibly loud

and persistent.

There also seems to be an initial “ping”
sound from being shot in the head.

The ping then starts to intensify into the
ringing, which lasts anywhere from hours,

to days or weeks later.

The ringing isn’t painful per se, it is
just really loud and annoying.

Most gunshot survivors say that the most painful
part of being shot is the recovery process.

The initial gunshot wound for many seems to
be a burning sensation, but that is nothing

compared to what happens if they survive the
gunshot.

They are rushed to surgery, and depending
on where the bullet entered, the operation

to remove the bullet and mend the wound is
excruciating.

Many gunshot survivors say that the recovery
and rehab process after being shot is much

worse than getting shot itself.

One survivor even described how when she was
operated on, the doctors couldn’t find the

bullet initially.

They didn’t want to go digging around in
her body looking for it, so they decided to

leave the bullet in.

The survivor had to have multiple surgeries
in order to recover from the gunshot, and

during one of them, the bullet had actually
been pushed close to the surface of the skin.

She said the bullet was practically poking
out of her body until she convinced one of

her surgeons to remove it.

Many gunshot wounds take months to heal.

This means that for a long period of time
survivors are in constant pain from their

body healing.

And yet, the pain of recovery isn’t even
the worst part for many gunshot survivors.

It’s the psychological trauma that haunts
them for the rest of their lives that causes

the most pain.

Most people who are shot end up with PTSD.

They are typically sent to counselors and
therapists to help them work through the traumatic

experience, but this does not always help.

Being shot does not just mean they are afraid
of being around guns or loud noises, but even

things that are unrelated to being shot may
set off a sense of fear and terror.

For many, with the help of medical professionals
and counselors, the PTSD can go away.

But for some it doesn’t, and they have to
live the rest of their lives with the disorder.

Getting shot is never pleasant.

Whether it is a burning sensation, intense
pain, or psychological trauma it is something

that stays with you for the rest of your life.

The sensations associated with being shot
depends on the person, the type of bullet,

and where the bullet entered.

Many people who survive being shot never fully
recover.

Now watch “How To Actually Survive Getting
Shot.”

Or check out “How To Stop Any Pain In Minutes.”