I'm not too schooled on what different types of ammunition will do to a person, but I was under the impression shotgun blasts at short distances were the big ones to be feared.
Well the fact that he used a type of buck shot as opposed to a slug probably helped him the most. I mean ultimately it sprayed and went all over, but a slug would have went straight through probably causing way more damage and probably killing him for sure.
yeah, the type of shot is probably what 'helped'. i know a friend's brother that got shot in the hand/arm/face with a shotgun. also a pal's dog that got shot in the face with a shotgun. they are both ok.
maybe he got lucky and was hit with birdshot cause the shooter didn't know what he was doing when he bought ammo at walmart?