For how long can a person who's been shot in the back stay alive?

Question

and can they recover

Answer 1

It depends where the shot is. If it hits a major artery or organ chances are slim for survival. If its hits the spinal cord you may still live but be paralyzed, if you're lucky and the bullet doesn't hit anything vital you will just be in a lot of pain and need physical therapy to recover.  

Answer 2

Depends on what the bullet hit.  My son was shot in the back in 2000. He died instantly.

If no major organs were hit, it's very possible to recover.  

Answer 3

Sure u can live after being shot in the back.

First, my condolences to Carol for her son.  

A bullet to the back in itself isn't life threatening.  Bullets CAN go in and out without hitting any major organs or important vasculature.  

So, when bullets enter the body, they usually take the path of least resistance, or get stuck in areas that cause the MOST resistance.  That said, we can deduce that a GSW to an artery is very threatening if you don't get help immediately.  

Paralysis occurs when nerves become compromised.  Depending on what area of the spine/nerves are hit dictates what kind of paralysis is eminent.  If you're hit in the cervical area, or the area behind the neck, you can consider yourself a quadriplegic. And that's because every area of the spine connects nerves to nerves in your extremities.  

Everything from breathing to moving your big toe it tied into the nerves of your spine.  

Why do I point out spinal injuries first?  Because it's not uncommon for those who become paralyzed wish they were indeed dead.  

Now, a GSW to an organ can be fatal but God has blessed us with alternatives when this happens.  For example, lose a kidney, you have another one.  Hurt one lung, we can either fix it or you can survive with the other one.  You can live without certain organs ie.spleen, gallbladder and appendix--they have their uses but we can live without them.  

Organs are usually divided into lobes.  For example.  The liver is extremely large comparatively speaking.  But the liver can be dissected for the sake of removing dead liver cells--so we can essentially live with half a liver.  The lung too has similar capabilities.  

But if you're shot in the heart, there's no real chance of surviving.  

Fatalities occur from hypovolemic shock which is derived from a severe loss of blood.  If you get shot in the spine that controls breathing, this too ends in death.

By the way, it's not always the entrance wound from a GSW that kills you.  The exit wound most times is more severe than the entrance.  So whatever is in the vicinity of the exit wound is subject to the most damage.

How long can one live if shot in the back?  If help arrives within minutes of the shooting and the GSW didn't hit anything major that causes you to instantly die, the prognosis can be very good.  

But as I said, how you live after your wounds heal can be equally devastating.

Answer 4

i heard it was 5 seconds.. but i really want toknow too

Answer 5

Yes you can recover from a gunshot to the back,but it sounds like something bad happened and you don't want to report it ,but it will catch up with you in the long run. The bullet can rust and cause you more problems than to just go get it taken out.