The Miraculous Survival of Phineas Gage

What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Except in the case of Phineas Gage, who became a lot of things but strong after an accident that ought to have killed him in 1848. The man survived the passing of an iron rod through his skull, hence becoming a legendary curiosity in medical sciences and a celebrity among the common population, albeit an irritable one. What Happened to Phineas Gage? Gage was an ordinary man, which is probably why his extraordinary survival made no newspaper headlines. He was a foreman by profession, and a great one at that. He was smart and genial at the same time, qualities that made him a valued employee and a respected leader among his crew. In September 1848, Phineas was stationed at Cavendish, Vermont in USA as part of a crew cutting a railroad bed at the Rutland & Burlington Railroad. On the thirteenth day of the month, he was assigned the task of stuffing gunpowder into a rock that was to be blasted for the process of construction. The task required handling a 43-inch long iron rod, as thick as “an inch and a fourth” in diameter, but the young man too was deft at what he did. He was going about his job—using the tamping iron to shove the powder into the hole—when friction between the rod and the rock caused a spark to flare. All it took was a split second to cause an explosion. The blast caused the rod in Gage’s hand to pierce through his left cheek into his skull through and through with high pressure. It destroyed his left eye, and exited from the other side after passing across the left front of his brain. It’s More Strange Than Sad The above account may sound deathly, but Phineas Gage got through it with a few convulsions at most. Within a few minutes the man was up on his feet, talking, walking and asking around for help. In the city, his case was looked at by Dr Edward H. Williams, who was assisted by Dr John Harlow during the weeks-long treatment.