How Florida teen survived spear gun injury through the brain
Jun-23-2012

A Florida teenager is on the road to recovery after being impaled with a 3-foot long spear that cut through his skull and brain.
Yasser Lopez, 16, was spear fishing with a friend June 8 when his friend accidentally shot him while loading the gun. The spear entered Lopez's skull above his right eye, penetrated his brain, and exited through the back of his head.
Miraculously, doctors reported Monday that Lopez survived the injury - and the subsequent three-hour surgery at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami - and is on his way to an intensive rehabilitation program.
"It's a wild story and not as uncommon as you think," Dr. Anders Cohen, chief of neurosurgery at The Brooklyn Hospital Center, told FoxNews.com. "I've seen people come into the hospital with gun shots, knives, baseball bats and machetes in their heads. You name it, I've seen it."
When a patient first comes in with this type of injury, Cohen said doctors first have to assess the clinical state of the patient, as well as the anatomical location of the injury in the brain.
"In [Lopez's] case, he had two good things going for him when he first came in," said Cohen, who did not treat Lopez. "First, he was awake and following commands, which allowed doctors to get a good neurological assessment. Many people with these injuries are in a coma or deeply affected by their injury."

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