The Unintended Survival
A man survived a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the brain for a year before succumbing to a long-term complication.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Death came to Henry H. Harlin, age twenty-six years, of 916 Fifteenth avenue southeast, as the result of a bullet wound self-inflicted with suicidal intent one year ago, according to the death certificate. Harlin, in a fit of despondency, shot himself in the head and the bullet plowed a furrow through his brain. Despite this, he recovered under expert medical care and watchful nursing. His friends rallied around him and he was preparing at his trade as a painter and paper hanger when death claimed him. According to Dr. M. N. Leland, 1523 East Franklin avenue, death was due to poisoning of the brain consequent upon the closing of the outer opening of his wound.
“Harlin, in a fit of despondency, shot himself in the head and the bullet plowed a furrow through his brain.”
Medical reporting in the early 20th century was remarkably blunt about suicide and mental health struggles. The tragedy of Harlin's survival—only to die from a complication a year later—highlights the era's primitive but evolving understanding of brain injuries.
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