As you’re probably aware, falls are the leading cause of construction job site casualties, because if landing from the fall itself doesn’t hurt you bad enough, there’s a good chance that you’ll fall onto something sharp. Just last week, we shared an article last week about a construction worker in India who was impaled though this stomach by a piece of steel rebar and survived. This week, we learned about a man in Saudi Arabia that suffered a fall and landed on a nail that was sticking up through a piece of wood.
The Daily Mirror, a UK publication, reports that the man’s colleagues decided to cut the nail off, leaving it in his heart, while they transported him to the nearest hospital. This proved to be a life saver, because doctors said that if they had tried to remove the nail, the man probably would have bled to death. As we talked about in the story above about the man impaled by rebar, you should leave objects in the victim and let the professionals pull it out, unless it absolutely has to come out immediately.
The open heart surgery was an apparent success, as doctors were able to remove the nail through open heart surgery and the man is expected to be discharged in the near future.
The hospital that performed the surgery actually shared a picture of the nail still in the heart, which the Daily Mirror has on their website. If you’d like to check that out, follow the link by clicking here. They did share the picture of the bloody nail after it was removed on their Twitter account, so you can check that out below.
Construction worker gets six-inch nail lodged in his HEART after fall - but survives https://t.co/pOKG66lbUX pic.twitter.com/0lGIBwayjI
— Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) April 20, 2016