Plaxico Burress gunshot to the thigh

Plaxico Burress is in deep trouble with the New York Giants, the NFL, and law enforcement after allegedly shooting himself in the thigh, but not much has been said about his injury.  It almost seems like one of those movies where the hero gets shot in the thigh, and continues on about his business, simply annoyed that he has been shot.  Perhaps there is a slight difference between my thighs and the thighs of professional athletes like Burress, but if I shot myself, I would be crying like a school girl and dialing 911.  Reportedly, he did not even go immediately to a hospital after the incident, but waited a couple hours.  Wow.

And I have even seen footage of Burress after the incident, walking around, sipping coffee, and generally acting like everything is fine.  This is not doing anybody any good.  Burress is simply perpetuating the concept that getting shot anywhere but your head, chest or abdomen is no big deal.  Folks, getting shot in the thigh IS a big deal.  You can damage your femoral artery, break your femor, cause nerve injury, etc.  It could easily have been a career ending injury, and he could have lost his entire limb.  You can even bleed to death from a femoral artery wound.

So to all you professional athletes out there with guns, please do the public a favor.  If you shoot yourself (anywhere at all) call 911 straight away, and scream, “I SHOT MYSELF!” as loud as you can.  Throw in some crying, moaning and call out for your mommy.  This will serve as a helpful reminder to those of us with normal human bodies that gunshot wounds are bad.  Don’t be like Plaxico, and act like you hardly noticed.