Lawsuit: Sword blade flew from handle, pierced teen’s head

ATLANTA (AP) – The parents of a Kentucky teenager say a Georgia company sold a defective Samurai sword that pierced the boy through the forehead as he and his friends played with it.

In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, Michael and Nicole Ballinger said the boys were swinging the sword at a plastic water bottle thrown in the air on the deck of a La Grange, Kentucky, home last November.

The lawsuit says the steel blade broke off the handle, flew as far as 20 feet and struck Tristan Ballinger, then 15.

The parents say he was in a coma for about six weeks before being transferred to a rehabilitation center.

The defendant, Top Swords LLC of Dallas, Georgia, did not immediately respond Wednesday to a request for comment.