ER doctor Brian Goldman shares prognosis for Home Alone's booby trap injuries
Twenty-six years ago, the movie Home Alone became an instant holiday classic. Four sequels later, families are still watching the flick.
"I have certainly seen many people who have unintentionally done things at home and who've ended up in the emergency department requiring treatment, especially over the holiday season," he tells The Current's guest host Piya Chattopadhyay.
In the Home Alone scene where Kevin rigs a blow torch to fire when the door opens and burglar Harry, played by Joe Pesci, sets his head on fire burning off his hat and hair, Dr. Goldman shares his prognosis for the injuries sustained.
"You could have anything up to and including third degree burns," he tells Chattopadhyay. "I would expect that … much of it would be to your face, so you could have eye damage. You'd certainly lose a lot of your hair and hopefully it wouldn't burn down the scalp so that it would be irreparable harm."
In another scene, Kevin sets paint cans to come slamming down into the burglars faces when they try to chase him up a flight of stairs.
Dr. Goldman's diagnosis on this injury is possible concussion, penetrating head injuries and skull fractures.
"We use to treat these [injuries] as a bonk in the head, you know you had your bell rung. Now it's all serious stuff."
Another iconic scene from a different movie has inspired ER visits, according to Dr. Goldman — Tom Cruise's lateral slide in Risky Business.
"It's amazing how many people come to the emergency department who tried that, particularly when intoxicated, and either got foreign body slivers in their feet or they slipped and strained their groin or they fell and hit their head."
Listen to more real life scenarios that prompted a visit to the ER.
This segment was produced by The Current's Marc Apollonio.