An Illinois man is recovering after accidentally shooting a 3-inch nail into his head while building a shed.

Dante Autullo told the Chicago Sun-Times he thought the nail had simply whizzed by his head last week, and that his head wound was from the nail gun itself.

"It really felt like I got punched on the side of the head," he told the Associated Press, adding that he continued working. "I thought it went past my ear."

In fact, Autullo plowed snow and did other chores after his fiancee cleaned the wound with peroxide, not going to the doctor until he felt nauseous after taking a nap at home the next day.

An X-ray revealed the 3 1/4-inch nail lodged in the middle of his brain.

Doctors told Autullo and his fiancee, Gail Glaenzer, that the nail came within millimeters from the part of the brain that controls motor function, and he was rushed by ambulance to the other hospital for more specialized care.

"He feels good. He moved all his limbs, he's talking normal, he remembers everything," Glaenzer told the AP. "It's amazing, a miracle."

While there are pain-sensitive nerves on a person's skull, there aren't any within the brain itself, which is why Autullo would have felt the nail strike the skull, but not penetrate his brain, doctors told the AP.