A California carpenter suffered horrific injuries when a power tool shot a nail through his tongue and into his skull at a construction site — and he’s suing the manufacturer over the allegedly defective device.
Timothy Kualii Kahae, 28, was installing plywood in the Bay Area on Nov. 15, 2021, using a Hitachi Pneumatic Nailer when it misfired and fired two nails at the same time, the Sacramento Bee reported, citing the lawsuit.
One of the nails hit another, sending it through his tongue and into his skull, according to the complaint filed Nov. 3 in federal court.
The apprentice carpenter from San Francisco was “shocked” and rushed to the Stanford clinic, where he underwent emergency surgery to remove the fastener, the lawsuit said.
Kahae also received multiple surgeries to repair a broken tongue, palate, nasal septum, sinuses, skull and jaw, the Mercury News reported, also citing the lawsuit.
“Timothy continues to experience numbness in his tongue where the nail went through, which has caused stuttering,” the suit alleges. “Timothy also has a permanent scar on his lower lip. This unnecessary injury will continue to plague Timothy for the rest of his life.”
Timothy Kualii Kahae, 28, a carpenter from San Francisco, is suing a nail gun company after suffering a horrific head injury at a construction site. The CT scan image above shows the nail embedded in his skull.San Francisco USDC
He has racked up more than $400,000 in medical bills and lost $30,000 in wages as a result of the incident, according to the complaint.
Kahae is suing the tool’s manufacturers, Georgia-based Hitachi Koki USA and Japan-based Koki Holdings Co., accusing them of negligence.
McClatchy News, the Bee’s owner, reached out to the company for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
In 2014, the company issued a recall of more than 25,000 of their nail guns, the complaint said.
Hitachi Hoi Nailer.Amazon generic
In its recall, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission included a hazard notice that said “nailers can jam and override a safety switch that allows only one nail to fire at a time, posing a risk of injury.”
The lawsuit alleges that the company’s nail guns continue to suffer from dangerous defects as recalled in 2014.
“The defendant’s nails have a defect that makes them unreasonably dangerous for the intended use of the user because of their tendency to jam and override the safety switch, causing two nails to burn simultaneously; just like what happened to Timothy,” the complaint states.
The suit alleges that Koki Holdings “failed to provide timely and adequate post-marketing warnings and instructions after they learned of the risk of injury posed by their nails.”
Kahae’s attorney did not immediately respond to questions by the Mercury News about whether he was aware of the recall.
He is seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
