Carlisle grad rejoins baseball team after taking nail to the heart

Jake Uhlman was shot in the heart with a nail gun March 31 and was within a millimeter of dying on the spot. 12 weeks later, he has been cleared to play baseball again.

Jake Uhlman was shot in the heart with a nail gun March 31 and was within a millimeter of dying on the spot. 12 weeks later, he has been cleared to play baseball again.

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Jake Uhlman was shot in the heart with a nail gun March 31 and was within a millimeter of dying on the spot. 12 weeks later, he has been cleared to play baseball again.

Jake Uhlman joined his teammates on the baseball field at Carlisle High School Thursday, 12 weeks after he was shot in the heart with a nail gun and escaped death by a millimeter.

The original incident happened March 31 during a building trades class. As Uhlman was putting up a piece of trim in the home they were building, another student grabbed the nail gun.

The shot went right into his heart, and surgeons told his family members it could be the end.

"The surgeon came in, and she said the nail is in his heart," said Lori Malek, the mother. "'It went into the right side through his breast bone and into his coronary artery, and we don't know if he's going to make it. You need to come in and say goodbye.'"

After a three and a half hour procedure, Uhlman emerged a survivor. The surgeons informed the family the nail was a millimeter from killing him on the spot.

"It's surreal that he's here today," Malek said. "I always said, 'God must have bigger plans for you.'"

As of Thursday, he's been cleared to return to physical activity, including playing on the baseball team.

"I'll hopefully pitch on senior night," he said. "I'm just happy to play."

But with the clean bill of health, he might have to do more than play.

"You're doing good," his mom said. "You can mow the yard now."

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