A construction worker in southwest China has miraculously survived after a six-foot-long metal rod impaled his body from the groin to the shoulder.
A construction worker in southwest China has miraculously survived after a six-foot-long metal rod impaled his body from the groin to the shoulder.
An X-ray scan showed how the six-foot-long rod pierced through the worker’s body. Photo: Daily Mail
The 37-year-old man landed on a metal rod that pierced his torso following being struck by lightning on a construction site. An X-ray scan shows how the six-foot-long rod pierced through the worker’s body.
The man had been struck by a bolt of lightning, which caused him to fall on to the long rod. He was taken to a hospital in Sichuan Province with the rod still impaled in his body. The rod measured nearly two meters (6.6 feet) long. Doctors performed a seven-hour operation yesterday and successfully removed the rod.
The rod measures about two metres long (6.6 ft) and has a diametre of one centimetre (0.4 inches) Photo: Daily Mail
The rod measures about two meters long (6.6 feet) and has a diameter of one centimeter (0.4 inches)
Dr. Ma Lin, from the cardiothoracic surgery department of West China Medical Centre of Sichuan University, said, ‘The patient is very, very lucky. The rod did not damage any of his vital organs.’
‘There is no significant blood loss and his blood circulation system appears to be fine.’ The worker, whose name has not been released, was taken to the hospital while still conscious. Experts from the cardiothoracic surgery, general surgery and urology departments teamed up to treat the patient.
Doctors performed a seven-hour-long surgical operation to remove the rod from the man
Doctors performed a seven-hour-long surgical operation to remove the rod from the man.
‘The rod travelled through the space between his bladder and intestines. To my surprise, the rod did not damage any major arteries in his abdomen,’ said Dr. Ma.
An X-ray scan showed the rod had broken through the man’s diaphragm and passed to the right side of his pericardial sac. Another doctor found out the patient had suffered minor pneumothorax as the rod had damaged his right lung.
Doctors performed a thoracic operation and removed damaged tissue from his lung and liver. Then they successfully removed the metal rod from his body.
