The industrial revolution was in full swing, which meant that new machinery, meant to make railroad construction and operations go faster, was being implemented and updated regularly. Current studies on the Phineas Gage case The horrifying story of Phineas Gage Back in the early and mid-1800s, railroad work was one of the most dangerous jobs a person could have. Anyone can pay Phineas Gage’s skull and the impalement rod a visit-they’re housed in the Harvard museum, which is a part of the medical school.Īnd while Harvard Medical School is full of marvels and curious exhibits, nothing tops the man who took an iron spike through the head and lived to tell the tale.īy Ryan Clark, contributor for Ripleys.IX. And there they were, right in front of me. After his death, his skull was donated, too. ![]() Sometime during his recovery, he donated the iron rod to the Harvard Medical School. He died in 1860 at the age of 36-incredibly, almost 12 years after being impaled with the rod. Here he stayed for seven years before falling ill and returning home. In 1852, he was invited to Chile to do similar stable and coachwork. He “was no longer Gage,” his friends would say. Personality-wise, he’d gone from courteous to selfish, and he’d transformed from someone with an acute business sense to someone who had no sense of how to handle money. He then went to work for a stable and coach service in Hanover, New Hampshire.Īnd while he seemed to be getting his life back on track, those close to him knew he wasn’t the same man. ![]() Instead, he started making appearances with the Barnum American Museum in New York City, telling his story to earn a living. And while some noted a change in personality, as well as some memory loss, Gage seemed to be recovering.Īfter four years, he was physically well, though he couldn’t get his railroad job back. Ten weeks later, he moved back to his hometown with his parents, helping them with some light work on their farm. Against all odds, he improved, and after a month, he was walking. Eventually losing sight in his left eye, Gage continued on the road to recovery. Some days he remembered family members and friends while on others, he had no recollection of who they were. He even walked-with some assistance-back to a cart that took him to a local doctor who cleaned and treated his wounds. But after a few minutes, not only was he still alive, he sat up and began to speak. Gage landed on his back, and according to some reports, went into convulsions. It passed his left eye, shot the left side of his brain and exited the top of his head, passing through the frontal lobe. ![]() The 13-pound rod shot up into his face, point-first, entering at the left lower jaw and continuing through his cheek. ![]() The tamping iron then sparked on the rock, causing it to explode.Īnd Gage’s life-and most importantly, his skull-would never be the same. It was then covered with dirt or clay and pounded into the space with a tool called a tamping iron-a three-and-a-half-foot long iron rod.Īs the story goes, Gage turned to say something to his fellow workers, which put his face in front of the blast hole. On this day, Gage, a New Hampshire native, was blasting rock for the Rutland & Burlington Railroad in Vermont: boring a hole into the rock, filling it with blasting powder and adding a fuse.
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