Worker survives iron bar piercing skull

RIO DE JANEIRO — A 24-year-old construction worker survived after a 6-foot metal bar fell from above and pierced his head, doctors said Friday. Luiz Alexandre Essinger, chief of staff at Rio de Janeiro’s Miguel Couto Hospital, said doctors successfully withdrew the iron bar from Eduardo Leite’s skull during a five-hour surgery.

“He was taken to the operating room, his skull was opened, they examined the brain and the surgeon decided to pull the metal bar out from the front in the same direction it entered the brain.” Essinger said.He said Leite was conscious when he arrived at the hospital and told him what had happened. “Today, he continues well, with few complaints for a five-hour-long surgery,” Essinger said. “He says he feels little pain.”

The bar fell from the fifth floor of a building under construction, went through Leite’s hard hat, entered the back of his skull and exited between his eyes, Essinger said, adding: “It really was a miracle.”