Jon-Erik Hexum's Blank Turned Fatal

In 1984, during a filming delay for the CBS series Cover Up, American actor and model Jon-Erik Hexum tried to lighten the mood by leaving one blank cartridge in a .44 Magnum revolver, spinning the cylinder, placing the gun against his right temple, and pulling the trigger. Although the cartridge contained no bullet, the muzzle blast fractured a quarter-sized piece of his skull and drove it into his brain, causing massive hemorrhaging. Doctors performed five hours of surgery, but Hexum was declared brain dead six days after the accident, at age 26. His heart, kidneys, corneas, and skin were subsequently donated for transplantation.

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