A builder had a lucky escape recently when a reinforcement steel rod impaled his bum and travelled up through his body, narrowly missing his heart.
The unnamed man was working on a construction site in Huzhou, in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang, when he fell off a platform that was approximately 13ft high and landed on the reinforcing bar (rebar).
The unfortunate construction worker, 22, was seriously injured when the metal rod pierced through his skin and went all the way up to his chest, hitting some of his major organs during the process.
The 22-year-old, who quickly fell unconscious upon sustaining his injuries, was rushed to the Second Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine (SAHZU) for emergency treatment.
When he arrived at the hospital, scans showed that the metal rod was sitting just three centimetres from his heart. One of his surgeons, Dr Chen Congcong, stated: ‘Fortunately, it missed his heart otherwise nobody could have saved him.’
However, the rebar had already caused damage to a number of the builder’s other organs, with Dr Chen Congcong saying: ‘The rebar hurt the man’s liver, intestines and lungs.’
The doctor and a team of experts immediately formulated a plan to remove the metal rod and to save the man’s life, something which required emergency surgery and a large team of healthcare professionals.
The difficult procedure required several doctors, including liver specialist Dr Ke and gastrointestinal specialist Dr Liang, who was responsible for taking the rod out of the man’s intestine.
Although the operation was a risky one, it was ultimately successful, with doctors finally removing the rebar at approximately 3am the next day.
The 22-year-old patient survived the operation and there were no complications, with the construction worker currently recovering in hospital.
This isn’t the first time a builder has been left fearing for their life after getting impaled on a metal rod; earlier this year, another construction worker was left impaled on a metal pole after falling 16ft from a building site.
That man also survived after his fellow workers acted quickly to ensure his safety by seeking emergency intervention. From there, emergency workers freed him from the scaffolding after the bar entered his body through his backside and rushed him to hospital.
Hopefully both men will be able to make full recoveries after their horrifying ordeals.
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A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).