Accidental Shooting Reveals Woman's Heart Condition

Presumably, Charlene Ross was not happy when a shotgun went off Sunday morning at their son's Ohio home while her 77-year-old husband was checking to see if it was loaded. Presumably, the 75-year-old was especially not happy when birdshot struck her in the neck. But she probably now sees the silver lining: While treating her, doctors discovered she has an arrhythmia, or irregular heartbeat, that could be life-threatening, her son Steve tells the Medina County Gazette. She was scheduled to have surgery to insert a pacemaker yesterday.

"Had this accident not happened my mom could have been gone at any time. You hate to use clichés but this is a Christmas miracle," Steve Ross says. He adds that, in another Christmas miracle, "only one pellet nicked her out of the shotgun blast." It went through the chair and caused a 4-inch-long laceration on the back of her neck, while the rest of the pellets remained inside the chair. The sheriff's office is investigating the shooting as an accident, the AP reports. (More uplifting news stories.)