Union General John Sedgewick's last words were, "Cowards, all of you! Flinching at single bullets? What will you do when the enemy is upon us? Besides, they couldn't hit an elephant at this dist--"
In 1848, there was a railroad construction worker by the name of Phineas Gage. He was working to demolish part of a mountain so that they could run a rail through it. Now normally, what you'd do, is drill a hole, pack some blasting powder inside, put in sand to dampen the impact, then use an iron rod to pack it down. One day, Phineas was distracted and he forgot to put in the sand to dampen the impact from the rod. The impact created a spark, igniting the powder, launching the iron rod 80 feet. Also, through Phineas Gage's head.
3 minutes later, Phineas regained consciousness, began talking to people, walked to a cart, sat up for the 3/4 mile trip back to his house, waited there for a doctor, and then spoke with the doctor about the large hole through his head. The doctor wrote, "I did not believe Mr. Gage's statement at the time, but thought he was deceived. Mr. Gage persisted in saying that the rod went through his head. Mr. Gage got up and vomited. The effort of the vomiting pushed out about half a teacup-full of brain, which fell on the floor."
Phineas was reported as saying "I hope I am not much hurt." While falling in and out of comas for about a month, his family was assured that there was no possible way he would live. Two months later, he was perfectly fine, apart from some behavioral issues. Years later, his behavioral problems subsided, he became member of a traveling circus and then a long-distance stage coach driver in Chile (Where people did not know he was Phineas Gage), until late on-set Epilepsy set in and he died.
Still, 12 years of life after having a yard-long rod of iron pass through your skull is pretty damn lucky. And lastly, a photo of Gage and an image of where the rod passed through.