Peter,
Thanks for posting and willing to take the hits. Most of us have had kick backs, yours was just a bad one and that just serves to remind us to think of the TS as a real dangerous weapon. Every now and then I find myself just about to start a procedure on mine that I shouldn't. Thankfully, I stop, rethink how I should be doing it. I have a Biesemeyer splitter with anti kick back pawls among other devices. That should have stopped that. Also use Grippers, so it depends on what I'm doing...what to use.
Glad you're OK, and just be thankful it hit your head, not your eye. These posts always cause us to think and review procedures. How can that not be a most helpful post?