Author Question: Multiple Survivable Stab Wounds

Joseph Asks:

I am writing a story inspired by the Saw franchise in which a man is forced to stab himself with three Swiss army knives. The knives will remain in. For the best chance of survival, should all the stabs be in the lower abdomen, or also bladder and/or hands/forearms?

I’ve heard the hands, forearms and lower abdomen are the three safest places to survive a stabbing, although of course technically there is no safe place, but those three areas avoid major organs/arteries/blood vessels. Though I’ve also heard stab wounds to the extremities i.e. hands can cause lasting disabilities. Where should he stab himself and how long until he is expected to die? He will be able to call an ambulance immediately, and maybe could use some cloths nearby to help put pressure on the wounds, assuming the pain is not debilitating.

Jordyn Says:

Hi Joseph!

Thanks for sending me your question.

I would agree with most of your assumptions as far as the extremities in general and the lower abdomen. You don’t include the legs. I think another relatively *safe* area would be the front of the thigh into the muscle or the back of the calf. Anywhere in the extremities where there is a large muscle mass. You could browse anatomy pictures of the extremities looking for diagrams of where the arteries are located to make sure you avoid them.

The lower abdomen is a good choice as well for suvivability. The problem can be puncturing the intestines and spilling gastric contents into the the abdominal cavity. If this happens, this can set up infection and sepsis though this would take a couple of days. You mention in your question that your character will be able to call for an ambulance immediately, not sure if that’s what you intended to say, as a delay in calling for an ambulance would definitely increase the conflict in your story.

Next to bleeding out, developing infection and sepsis would be the greatest risk of death for this character, but would likely take 2-3 days to develop.

Any stab wound to the hands or feet could be a set up for a life long debilitating injury. Many of these can be repaired, but I personally ruptured a tendon in my hand over twenty years ago and have limited range of motion to that thumb. The decision to make as the author is what, if any, long lasting effects you want the character to suffer.

Hope this helps and best of luck with you novel!