FEB 27, 2015 11:49 AM PST

Accidents can occur and sometimes be fatal

WRITTEN BY: Greg Cruikshank
13-Year-Old Boy Impaled With Large Bamboo Pole -- And SurvivesDez Heal, a 13-year-old Virginia boy, is lucky to be alive after he was impaled by a bamboo stick through the neck.

Heal and his friends were imagining themselves as ninjas, WSET's Mark Kelly reports, when Heal put the bamboo "spear" in his shirt. When he jumped, the bamboo stick pierced the right side of his neck.

Even though the stick was impaled in Heal's neck for five hours before doctors removed it, Heal's injuries were not life-threatening. According to the New York Daily News, doctors on Monday took out a drainage tube from the teen's neck.

ABC News spoke to physicians who advise that in situations such as Heal's, it's best not to try to remove the impaled object yourself. "If it is going through an artery, if you pull it out, the leak may explode," Dr. Paul Pepe, chairman of emergency medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, told ABC News.

In May, 28-year-old Andrew Lin survived when a 2-inch diameter fencepost went through his head as he was driving. Doctors called Lin's survival a "miracle" as the pipe managed to miss his carotid artery, spine and jugular vein.
About the Author
Bachelor's (BA/BS/Other)
With over 25 years of sales and marketing experience at various Life Science & Biotech Companies, Greg Cruikshank is leveraging his professional and entrepreneurial skills to run the companies Labroots Inc, Chati LLC, and Snake Country LLC. Labroots is the leading scientific social networking website, offering top scientific trending news and premier educational virtual events and webinars. Contributing to the advancement of science through content-sharing capabilities, Labroots is a powerful advocate for amplifying global networks and communities. At Chati, we provide a flexible, highly scalable virtual event builder that is accessible, immersive, and will leave attendees excited for the next event. With decades of experience producing virtual events, Chati provides all of the tools you need to successfully host a captivating virtual event. Greg has a passion for reptiles, raising various types of snakes and lizards since he was a young boy. This passion has evolved into starting the company Snake Country. At Snake Country, we breed and specialize in various morphs of Boa Constrictors, Ball Pythons, and other reptiles.
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