Everything above your earlobe is made of cartilage, and that takes a significantly longer time period to heal compared to flesh. Just ask anyone who’s had their lobe pierced vs a tragus or helix which one healed faster.
Also, assuming anything you said about the ballistics of a .556 round are true, it’s irrelevant because the AP has photos of his ear and there’s no puncture wounds, hole-punch sized or other. If he was hit by the bullet and not just shrapnel, it was a grazing shot and (for my money, seeing as how he’s an old obese man) it’s likely he’s on warfarin or some other blood-thinner/anti-coagulant which made his wound bleed more than it otherwise would have.
Everything above your earlobe is made of cartilage, and that takes a significantly longer time period to heal compared to flesh. Just ask anyone who’s had their lobe pierced vs a tragus or helix which one healed faster.
Also, assuming anything you said about the ballistics of a .556 round are true, it’s irrelevant because the AP has photos of his ear and there’s no puncture wounds, hole-punch sized or other. If he was hit by the bullet and not just shrapnel, it was a grazing shot and (for my money, seeing as how he’s an old obese man) it’s likely he’s on warfarin or some other blood-thinner/anti-coagulant which made his wound bleed more than it otherwise would have.