George Orwell on getting shot

[David Morris]

http://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/soldiers/george-orwell-shot.html

George Orwell wrote "Wounded by a Fascist Sniper" after being shot in
the throat in Spain. The essay starts, "The whole experience of being
hit by a bullet is very interesting and I think it is worth describing
in detail."

Roughly speaking it was the sensation of being at the center of an
explosion. There seemed to be a loud bang and a blinding flash of
light all around me, and I felt a tremendous shock - no pain, only a
violent shock, such as you get from an electric terminal; with it a
sense of utter weakness, a feeling of being stricken and shriveled up
to nothing. The sandbags in front of me receded into immense distance.
I fancy you would feel much the same if you were struck by lightning.
I knew immediately that I was hit, but because of the seeming bang and
flash I thought it was a rifle nearby that had gone off accidentally
and shot me. All this happened in a space of time much less than a
second. The next moment my knees crumpled up and I was falling, my
head hitting the ground with a violent bang which, to my relief, did
not hurt. I had a numb, dazed feeling, a consciousness of being very
badly hurt, but no pain in the ordinary sense.