Prayer Request: Kayla Scott’s 22-Month-old Son Shot Self with Brad Nailer-Outdated!
Summary of eRumor:
A prayer request is making the rounds on Facebook for the 22-month-old son of a woman named Kayla Scott who shot himself in the heart with a nail gun and is in critical condition.
The Truth:
This prayer request has been circulating social media since 2010, so we’re classifying it as “outdated.”
One of the earliest versions of the story appeared in a DIY chat room in August 2010. In that version, the poster said “a local 22-month-old boy” had picked up his dad’s electric brad gun and shot himself in the chest, just below the sternum. The post wasn’t a prayer request, but rather a reminder to unplug power tools when not in use:
If you own an electric powered brad nailer, as I do, PLEASE remember to unplug it when you are not using it–even for a minute. A local 22 month old boy picked up his Dad’s, which was plugged in and turned ON and shot himself in the chest. The brad nail went just to the left of the Sternum, below the skin line and is into his heart. He is in critical condition at this time and the local Dr.’s here, which do heart surgery, are considering flying him to another hospital for surgery. Just one second in this child’s life is all that it took. Thanks for reading, David
That story is impossible to fact-check since it doesn’t name the boy or the city that the accident supposedly happened in.
Two months later, in October 2010, the story made its way to Facebook in the form of a payer request. In that version, the boy’s mother had a name, Kayla Scott:
When the prayer request for Kayla Scott made its way to a prayer forum hosted by SingSnap that same month, questions began to surface about whether or not the story was true. Skeptics noted that the story had been in circulation for months, and nobody had actually heard from Scott or her injured son’s family.
It should also be noted that different names have been associated with the story of the years, too. The boy’s mother has had numerous names — including Dedee Parsons, Teresa Lynch and Cheryl Dewitts — none of which have been confirmed.
We also couldn’t find any news reports about a 22-month-old boy being shot in the chest with a brad nailer. There were reports of teens in Hawaii and Michigan being shot in the heart with nail guns (both survived), but those stories don’t match the particulars of the Kayla Scott Prayer request.
In the end, we can’t definitively prove that the story of the 22-month-old boy who shot himself in the chest with a brad nailer is false. But the prayer request is definitely outdated.
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