Teen recovering after spear removed from his brain
Jun 19, 2012, 8:08 PM
MIAMI (AP) – Doctors in Miami have successfully removed a spear accidentally shot through a teenager’s skull during a spearfishing trip.
Yasser Lopez, 16, was in serious condition Tuesday at Jackson Memorial Hospital’s Ryder Trauma Center.
The spear gun accidentally fired as it was being loaded. Lopez was hospitalized June 7 with 3 feet of the spear protruding from his forehead.
Doctors say the spear entered the teen’s head 2 inches above his right eye and came out the back of his skull. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue tools were used to cut the spear so the teen could be X-rayed.
The rest of the spear was removed in a three-hour surgery. Doctors told reporters Monday that the spear missed all the main blood vessels in the brain. They said Lopez doesn’t remember the accident.
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