Do not run with knitting needles

or maybe you should
full article with pics and video
at extreme craft

The Needle (and the Damage Done)

Knitting Needle Accident Reveals Cancer - ABC News

As most Extreme Craft readers know, craft can be a dangerous, even life-threatening business. 55 year old Ellin Klor found this out the hard way when she was on the way to a knitting club meeting. Apparently, she was so jazzed to show her friends some new patterns that she bounded up the front stairs, knitting needles in hand. Unfortunately, Ms. Klor tripped, and one of the knitting needles (the actual remnant is pictured above) pierced her chest, lodged in her heart, and snapped off. She didn't even notice until she got into the house, where 911 was promptly called.

The trauma team at Stanford University Hospital successfully removed the (shockingly large gauge) needle from her heart, stitched her up and sent her home. Twelve days later, Klor woke up with a pain in her chest and shortness of breath, and got back in touch with her doctors. When she went back to the hospital, every test came back negative until a doctor noticed that one of her lymph nodes was swollen.

Sherwood-survior--knit-So01-horizontal

Klor was soon diagnosed with breast cancer, which she had successfully fought a decade earlier. Doctors actually think that the knitting needle incident saved her life, as the malignancy wouldn't have been caught until it started to spread. According to a Newsweek article, her line of thinking that got her past the breast cancer was something like "if a knitting needle through my heart isn't enought to kill me, there's no way that a little thing like cancer is going to get in my way."

20/20 ran a video piece about Ellin Klor last Sunday, and although they didn't provide embeddable video that I could directly put up, they do have an archive of the piece HERE.

If this isn't an argument for playing fast and loose with craft, I don't know what is. Don't be afraid to run with scissors (or bound up the stairs with knitting needles). It might just save your life.