# Quick question...



## SaltyDog (Jan 2, 2017)

I have a question about a gut wound.  Generally, how long would it take for the injured person to succumb to the wound?  Does time vary with location of the wound?  

Thanks


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## DragonOfTheAerie (Jan 2, 2017)

SaltyDog said:


> I have a question about a gut wound.  Generally, how long would it take for the injured person to succumb to the wound?  Does time vary with location of the wound?
> 
> Thanks



I happen to need an answer to this question too, lol. I kill a guy by a knife to the gut. it's far down the road but it's good to know. 

Actually I kill several people with knives to the gut...but the poor sap who dies in the opening scene to my WIP gets multiple stab wounds, so I don't assume he has long. Doesn't matter though. As long as he can't get up and pursue the MC.


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## Mytherea (Jan 2, 2017)

I'm by far no expert, just did a lot of research for my last book on gut wounds, but from what I remember, it depends where it's located. If, say, if the wound is a stab-wound or a gunshot wound that nicks or severs one of the major arteries around the kidneys or the ones running alongside the spine, a person can die in minutes from blood loss or from shock (worse is the nicking; arteries can sometimes seal up if they're severed, increasing a person's chance of survival, but if the artery is nicked, it's just going to keep bleeding). (Also, as a side-thing, but there's a slightly higher survival chance for stab wounds than gunshot wounds due to the nature of the injury, but again, that depends on where the wound is and what organs its hit) If the intestines are damaged, the person can die of sepsis and/or infection from the fecal matter, which can take days and is really unpleasant. Similar with piercing or nicking the stomach, but then that's stomach acid and that burns. Basically, it helps to have an idea of how long you want the injured person to keep living, and then choose the injury that fits the time-line you have in mind, since there are so many ways for abdominal injuries to go. Also, a lot would depend on the kind of medical attention someone could receive and do receive. BUT, please, double-check absolutely everything I say here 'cause all my knowledge stems from Google, a few medical articles, and a couple medical reference books for writing, and I've likely made a lot of egregious mistakes here. Best option would be to do some preliminary research, figure out the most likely option or options that fit your timeline, and find a medical professional who knows about gut wounds and run the scenario past them and see what they say.


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## Demesnedenoir (Jan 2, 2017)

Gut wounds without giving specifics to your reader allows for a wide range of death times, minutes to days. Where you'd get in trouble is if you gave specific wound info... He punctured his spleen with the knife... a doctor somewhere is going to have a good idea how long until they die, LOL.


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## Chessie (Jan 2, 2017)

It depends on whether they're shot or stabbed or impaled somehow (the latter causing probably close to immediate death). Gut wounds are possibly the worst ones. Slow, drawn out, miserable death awaits. It can take several days to die from a gunshot to the stomach, for example.


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## skip.knox (Jan 2, 2017)

General Rule #514: when someone says it's a quick question, it isn't.


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## spectre (Jan 2, 2017)

It is a slow death, hours.

"The eye that sees cannot see itself."


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## SaltyDog (Jan 2, 2017)

Thank you all for your posts!
And yes I think I will check it out further Mytherea.


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## Butterfly (Jan 3, 2017)

I found this book - Body Trauma: A Writer's Guide to Wounds and Injuries: Amazon.co.uk: David W Page MD: 9781933016412: Books rather helpful for research like this. It has a sections on what you are looking at.


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## CupofJoe (Jan 3, 2017)

Butterfly said:


> I found this book - Body Trauma: A Writer's Guide to Wounds and Injuries: Amazon.co.uk: David W Page MD: 9781933016412: Books rather helpful for research like this. It has a sections on what you are looking at.



This book is the writer's equivalent of *Rule 34*. "If there are Writer's questions there WILL be a book on it."


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