Scratched Nose with Power Drill

Claim:   Photograph shows a man who tried to scratch his nose with a power drill.

Status:   Real picture; inaccurate description..

Examples:   [Collected via e-mail, 2001]

There's a current law suit in the works by a Minnesota man named Henry Harleny. Mr. Harleny is suing a famous drill company for physical damages caused to him by their tools. Mr. Harleny claims that he wanted to eliminate an itch in his nose, so he placed a power drill up his nose and turned the drill on with the drill bit still attached. He successfully got rid of the "itch", but in the process he "drilled" off his nose. Here's a picture of Mr. Harleny taken at the hospital. Here is a statement by Mr. Harleny: "No where on the package, or on the actual tool was there a warning that specifically tells the consumer not to place the drill up their nose, or any orifice for that matter. These companies need to take responsibility for their products." Mr. Harleny is suing for $25 million.

Origins:   Once

again we have a case of someone's adding a humorous but fictitious explanation to a photograph of completely different origin.

This is not a picture of someone who "placed a power drill up his nose" to scratch and itch and "drilled off his nose," nor is any person named
Henry Harleny "suing a famous drill company" because the tool he purchased lacked a label warning consumers "not to place the drill up their nose." The picture was taken from an episode of The Learning Channel's television program Trauma: Life in the ER and shows a patient who was hit by a bullet at such an angle that it creased his face and took off part of his nose.

Last updated:   21 September 2006