16-year-old Yasser Lopez woke up with the startling realization that he had just been impaled in the forehead with a three-foot long fishing spear. Despite the spear going through his brain, the teen underwent a miraculous recovery.

Lopez and his friend were on a boat, when a fishing spear accidentally discharged and entered Lopez’s head, just above his right eye. Reports indicate that the boys “woke up” to discover the spear sticking through Lopez’s head, suggesting that Lopez lost consciousness while the friend may have passed out from the initial shock.

Lopez was conscious and alert when he first arrived at the hospital, but later had to be sedated when he started becoming agitated.

“It’s a striking injury, something you don’t see everyday — a patient arriving awake and speaking with a 3-foot spear through his head,” Dr. George Garcia said. “The first obstacle is to not be distracted by the obvious sensational aspect of the injury.”

In order to examine the damage through a CT scan, doctors used a rebar cutter and vise-gripes to steady the spear while they shortened it. And in a shocking find, doctors realized that the spear missed all of Lopez’s vital organs and blood vessels, hopefully sparing the teen from any lasting damage.

Doctors took necessary precautions during the three hour surgery, blocking the tip of the spear to prevent the barb from accidentally deploying.

Lopez is now sitting upright and speaking, although he is still feeling some numbness on his left side.

The doctors are optimistic about his recovery, adding, “The problems we expect are weakness in the left arm and leg, but luckily he’s right-handed.”