In possible medical first, breast implants deflect bullet, save Toronto woman's life, doctors say

TORONTO (KABC) -- In what may be a medical first, a woman's silicone breast implants helped deflect a bullet and save her life, doctors say.

Doctors credit the silicone implants for preventing a bullet from striking the 30-year old's vital organs.

The incident took place in Toronto, Canada.

The woman told doctors she was walking down the street when she suddenly felt heat and pain on the left side of her chest. She looked down and saw blood, and brought herself to a local emergency room.

Physicians treated her by removing the implants and irrigating the wound.

The bullet broke one of her ribs, but doctors say she could have died if not for the implants.

The firearm was never recovered and the shooter was never identified.

The shooting happened in 2018, but the case study outlining the incident was published to a medical journal last week.

The study said such incidents are rare.

There have been a few scattered reports of saline breast implants slowing down a bullet. But the study authors say this is the first documented case specifically of a silicone implant altering a bullet's trajectory and therefore saving a patient's life.