Impaled by mattress spring

[snopes]

Comment: Myself and my wife have both heard about a lady that was impaled
by an inner spring in her mattress. Apparently the spring was old and
"gave way", unravelling and poking through the mattress and into her.

It sounds unlikely to us, but wondered if there have ever been any
instances similar to this?

Uh...what?

Old springs don't "unravel". It may be possible that one broke free and the end came through the mattress material, but I don't think it would be enough to penetrate very far.

I've been poked by mattress springs (or the connecting wires) from cheap, second hand units. They can hurt, but not enough to kill.

I've been poked more than once from a broken spring in an old mattress. The first time I thought I had been stung by something. The most serious injury I ever incurred drew blood, but nothing serious.

[Grand Illusion]

I seriously doubt the tension on a bedspring would have enough force to impale someone. Add to that the fact that springs are coiled into several-inch in diameter circles. In order for a spring to impale someone, it would have to thrust the entire diameter of the coil through the person's body.

[Tarquin Farquart]

Originally Posted by nevermore.1971

I've been poked more than once from a broken spring in an old mattress. The first time I thought I had been stung by something. The most serious injury I ever incurred drew blood, but nothing serious.

I remember rolling over when sleeping on an old mattress and catching myself on a rogue spring. It hurt a bit, but it didn't draw blood.

[Not_Done_Living]

There is a tv show on Discovery Canada called "how it's made" that actually had how they make mattresses. The springs arnt under ANY pressure until you lie on it.. if it were to "uncoil", it would "uncoil" into the it's non pressured state.. which is not a strait piece of metal.

[Penny]

Originally Posted by Not_Done_Living

There is a tv show on Discovery Canada called "how it's made" that actually had how they make mattresses. The springs arnt under ANY pressure until you lie on it.. if it were to "uncoil", it would "uncoil" into the it's non pressured state.. which is not a strait piece of metal.

But you would only be concerned about a spring uncoiling into you if you were lying on the mattress, so the springs would be under pressure.


"Did someone say 'mattress' to Mr Lambert?" (5pts)

[kanazawa]

Originally Posted by Penny

But you would only be concerned about a spring uncoiling into you if you were lying on the mattress, so the springs would be under pressure.


"Did someone say 'mattress' to Mr Lambert?" (5pts)

"Oh no, now he's gone and put a bucket over his head...."

[Victoria J]

Originally Posted by Penny

But you would only be concerned about a spring uncoiling into you if you were lying on the mattress, so the springs would be under pressure.


"Did someone say 'mattress' to Mr Lambert?" (5pts)

But it would be a normal mattress width (depth ?) in length (um, height ?) - not something that could spring out to be wider than the normal, non-squashed, mattress. It is not going to be a spring that might be a couple of times bigger than the mattress space it is forced into, that can suddenly leap out and into your body.

Victoria J

[Penny]

Originally Posted by kanazawa

"Oh no, now he's gone and put a bucket over his head...."

5 points!

Originally Posted by Victoria J

But it would be a normal mattress width (depth ?) in length (um, height ?) - not something that could spring out to be wider than the normal, non-squashed, mattress. It is not going to be a spring that might be a couple of times bigger than the mattress space it is forced into, that can suddenly leap out and into your body.

Oh, I'm not claiming that it's going to spring out further than the boundary of the uncompressed mattress. But with an old saggy mattress, when you're lying on it you're within that boundary.

As an example, I used to sleep on an old inner-spring mattress. It was about 25cm high uncompressed, and compressed to about 15cm when I lay on it. That'd be 10cm worth of uncompressed spring that could potentially stab into me if this claim is true. The OP doesn't claim that the springs "suddenly leap out", it says they "unravell[ed] and pok[ed] through the mattress and into her". (Since springs won't unravel past their uncompressed state, I'm reading that as the partial unravelling you get from the process of reverting from compressed to uncompressed).

From a rough-guess perspective, I find it hard to believe that a mattress spring (particularly an old one) would be under that much tension and be sharp enough to penetrate any distance. But perhaps there's a case where it could happen, such as if the mattress was on a hard supporting base and the lady is particularly heavy (thus placing the springs under unusual tension).

If there is such a case, I'm sure the Mythbusters would find it. It would probably involve high explosives.

[kanazawa]

Originally Posted by Penny

5 points!

Thanks....my first

Originally Posted by Penny

"Did someone say 'mattress' to Mr Lambert?" (5pts)

Originally Posted by kanazawa

"Oh no, now he's gone and put a bucket over his head...."

I know it's too late for points, but maybe I can get a bit for a song....

"And did those feet...."

[Penny]

Originally Posted by Doug4.7

I know it's too late for points, but maybe I can get a bit for a song....

"And did those feet...."

I've lurked enough to be afraid of Doug, so I'll hand over the points if you promise not to hurt me.

[Kev-O]

Originally Posted by Not_Done_Living

There is a tv show on Discovery Canada called "how it's made" that actually had how they make mattresses. The springs arnt under ANY pressure until you lie on it.. if it were to "uncoil", it would "uncoil" into the it's non pressured state.. which is not a strait piece of metal.

I watch that show here in the U.S. I find it entertaining.
Everything is in French

Physically it is impossible for a spring to "impale" (penetrate with much force), or uncoil (become un-springlike, thank you Kevipedia.......) and kill a person from within a mattress.
I think.

I think it's time for memory foam...

[sparklygirl]

Although this is not really like the oP it is a funny story.
When my dh & his brothers were young their mother had thrown out a very old mattress. They decided it would be great to play dog-pile on. Youngest brother was on the mattress and they all dog-piled on him and he got stabbed pretty good in the left butt-cheek from one of the old springs, LOL. He says he still has a scar.

[Troberg]

From a rough-guess perspective, I find it hard to believe that a mattress spring (particularly an old one) would be under that much tension and be sharp enough to penetrate any distance.

Not only are the springs not under enought tension, the last few turns are usually flat (as oposed to spiraled), providing a solid ring on the ends. In other words, no sharp end to impale anyone, just a ring with the diameter of the spring.

Unless, of course, it was a ninja spring mattress.