YouTuber WhistlinDiesel survives shooting himself in the head in freak gun accident

Michael Gwilliam
YouTuber whistlindiesel

Popular YouTube star Cody ‘WhistlinDiesel’ Detwiler says he’s lucky to be alive after he accidentally shot himself in the head with a massive .50 caliber bullet.

WhistlinDiesel, who is known for doing outdoorsman-related videos on his channel, has quite the following on YouTube, with nearly 2 million subscribers- and he’s probably going to get even more now that he’s survived taking a bullet to the head.

On January 21, the celebrity took to Instagram to reveal that he’d been shot in a freak accident. “Not sure how I’m alive [right now],” he began the post. “Love you all and thanks for all of you.”

The photo of Detwiler’s blood-soaked face quickly spread amongst his followers, who were concerned for his wellbeing. In a follow-up edit to the post, he detailed what happened.

“I got hit with a .50 cal bullet ricochet from 4ft away right into my forehead,” he revealed.

.50 caliber bullets are massive. They are often found in long-range sniper rifles, so it’s a miracle that he managed to survive the blow.

“I’m ok, they’re just doing some scans to make sure I don’t have swelling other than the 2’ lump on my forehead and the copper jacket under my skin,” he added with a bunch of laughing emoticons.

As it turns out, the ricochet occurred when the YouTuber was practicing shooting steel plates from just four feet away to see how many it would take to go through. The bullet just went through two of the plates.

Despite the gruesome injury, WhistlinDiesel has no plans to stop shooting. “You look at life a little differently when you pull the trigger of your .50 cal and your head shakes and [blood] starts dripping down past your eyes,” he said. “I put my hand up and just felt metal sticking out and about passed out.”

“Got a CT scan to be safe, and they say my skull isn’t cracked, soo… back to target practicing.”

While it’s good to see he’s safe and will continue doing what he loves, hopefully he doesn’t try shooting targets from such close range next time – or he may not be so lucky.

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About The Author

Michael Gwilliam is a senior writer at Dexerto based in Ontario, Canada. He specializes in Overwatch, Smash, influencers, and Twitch culture. Gwilliam has written for sites across Canada including the Toronto Sun. You can contact him at michael.gwilliam@dexerto.com or on Twitter @TheGwilliam