In a peculiar incident in Moscow, Russia, a man accidentally shot his pregnant partner with an air rifle, leading to their newborn daughter having a pellet embedded in her stomach. Local media reports indicate that the father was firing the air rifle when a pellet ricocheted and penetrated his wife’s abdomen.
The expectant mother, in her final month of pregnancy, was swiftly taken to the hospital. Miraculously, tests showed that none of the baby’s vital organs were harmed by the pellet, which measured just under a centimetre long and half a centimetre wide. Doctors decided it would be safer to wait until after the baby’s birth to remove the pellet. Following the birth, the pellet was successfully removed from just beneath the infant’s skin. After the procedure, doctors reported that both mother and child were doing well.
Context and concerns over air rifles
Despite their seemingly harmless nature, air rifles can be as lethal as firearms if they strike sensitive areas such as the eyes. Air guns fire pellets rather than bullets, propelled by compressed air either manually pumped or stored within the gun. Some pellets are made from lead, which poses additional risks. Lead poisoning, which can be fatal, can occur when lead pellets remain lodged in the body for extended periods.
Official statement from Moscow health authorities
The State Budgetary Institution of Healthcare of the Moscow Region provided details on the medical intervention. “Neonatal surgeons at the Moscow Regional Centre for Maternal and Child Health removed a pellet from a pneumatic weapon from the anterior abdominal wall of a newborn baby,” the institution reported. The neonatal surgery department, headed by Mikhail Georgievich Rekhviashvili, PhD, responded promptly to the emergency. “The newborn girl was delivered in satisfactory condition. Upon palpation of the anterior abdominal wall, doctors discovered a subcutaneous mass,” the statement concluded.