When Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray in 2004, reports said that the stingray barb broke off, lodged in his heart, and that he pulled it out which caused him to bleed to death.
Ten years later the cameraman with him said that the stingray stabbed what seemed like hundreds of times and that Irwin didn't try to pull out the barb. Thus it seems that the barb didn't break off and stay lodged in Irwin's heart.
Obviously it is not always medically necessary to remove a weapon like a bullet, knife, or arrowhead from a victim's body, since many persons have survived for years and decades with bullets and arrowheads in parts of their bodies.
And I have read that in some cases it is better to leave a bullet, knife, or arrowhead in the body than try to remove it, since feeling around inside the wound with unwashed fingers can cause infection, pulling it out can cause more damage to tissues, and the weapon might be plugging up arteries it has severed.
Thus many times thought should be given to how and if to remove a weapon from a victim's body.
And I have read that some people have survived wounds to the heart, and thus not all heart wounds need to be fatal, some can be survived under the right circumstances.
So is it medically possible for someone to be wounded in the heart, with the weapon plugging the wound it makes, so that the weapon shouldn't be pulled out until and unless doctors are prepared to immediately close the heart wound and stop the bleeding?
Could it be a fatal mistake to pull a weapon out of one's heart, as was alleged in some stories about Steve Irwin's death?