Eugene Rakow, a self-employed carpenter from St Bonifacius, was working on his neighbour's deck last week when the nail gun kicked back and the 3.5-inch nail pierced his chest.

"I was leaning against a board with the gun. I had the gun at an angle, chest level, and it jumped and I still had my hand on the trigger. It impaled the nail in my chest," Rakow said. "I could feel it gurgle a little, crunch a little. I knew it wasn't good," he told Star Tribune.