Being shot while wearing a bulletproof vest

[lotus0kid]

Hello! I have a character who was shot at close range in the chest while wearing a bulletproof vest. I know when that happens, he'd have some severe bruising- how likely is it that he'd crack/break a rib as well? The bullet hit right over his heart, I would hope those ribs are pretty tough, but if a rib is damaged, would he be able to feel/see

Comments

[gigglingkat]

Late to this but if you WANT an injury but nothing too serious - google "Sternum Injury" because if he got shot in the sternum, they'd do slightly different things and increase your woobie quotient.

[anonymous]

I'm not sure about in the context of bullet proof vests, but for general anatomy the sites where a rib joins to either the sternum or the spine are generally the strongest points- i.e. right over the heart isn't really a super fracture-able place, when compared to the distal areas (the bits on the sides). Not saying that it couldn't happen, but most cracked ribs occur at the sides (maybe if you really wanted a cracked rib he could take a seriously heavy fall due to the shot? Particularly exciting are fractures to the Left 10-12 ribs, as they can perforate the spleen. The spleen has high blood flow, so that could be super dangerous/life threatening and gory-looking, fun times.)