The X-ray looks like something out of a horror movie, but it really happened.
A 25-year-old man arrived at a hospital in South Africa complaining only of a severe headache and discomfort when moving his left eye. What no one imagined was that he had spent four days with the blade of a knife more than 10 centimeters long embedded in his skull.
It had all begun after a fight in which he tried to defend a friend. Due to the alcohol, the impact, and the fact that the weapon’s handle came off, the man never realized that the blade had become completely lodged in his head. He thought he had only been hit.
The X-rays left the doctors stunned: the knife had entered beneath his left eye and became stuck in a bone, preventing it from moving farther and damaging the brain or major blood vessels. Even so, the risk of removing it was enormous.
After several examinations conducted by a team of ophthalmologists, neurosurgeons, and maxillofacial surgeons, the specialists successfully removed the blade without compromising his vision or causing major injuries. Just two days after the operation, the patient was discharged from the hospital.
The doctors themselves described the case as extremely unusual, since a penetrating injury of this kind usually causes massive bleeding, infections, or severe neurological damage. In this case, the knife’s exact position was what ultimately saved his life.