‘It’s Unbelievable’: How Did This Construction Worker Survive a 6-Foot Pole Through His Skull?

This tomography scan released Thursday, Aug. 16, 2012 by the Miguel Couto hospital, show the skull of 24-year-old construction worker Eduardo Leite pierced by a metal bar. (Miguel Couto Hospital/AP)
(TheBlaze/AP) — 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 of 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.
He said Leite was lucid and showed no negative consequences after the operation.
“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” that Leite survived.
The accident and surgery took place on Wednesday.
“They told me he was laying down (in the ambulance) with the bar pointing upward, said Leite’s wife, Lilian Regina da Silva Costa. “He was holding it and his face covered in blood. His look was as if nothing had happened. When he arrived he told the doctors he wasn’t feeling anything, no pain, nothing. It’s unbelievable.”
Ruy Monteiro, the hospital’s head of neurosurgery told the Globo TV network that Leite escaped by just a few centimeters from losing one eye and becoming paralyzed on the left side of his body.
He said the bar entered a “non-eloquent” area of the brain , an area that doesn’t have a specific, major known function.
Leite is expected to remain hospitalized for at least two weeks.
You may remember a recent story reported by TheBlaze where 16-year-old Yasser Lopez, of Miami-Dade County, Fla., was shot right through the skull with a 3-foot spear. He also survived the seemingly fatal injury and made a miraculous recovery.
This is what his x-ray looked like:
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Voteman
Posted on August 19, 2012 at 4:26pmWe should have a pole and see who has the funniest shtick… Yahka Yahka…..
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RRFlyer
Posted on August 19, 2012 at 8:50amThe real question is how did he survive having all his skin pulled off and his eyes poked out?
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Voteman
Posted on August 19, 2012 at 4:23pmWe should have a pole and see who has the funniest shtick… Yahka Yahka…..
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ROB RAGE
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 6:52pmYes..as previous comments alluded to..He must have a Nano Brain Marinated in Captain Crunch the Economy Obama Koolaid…The bad news for him is..it’s made from the same recipe as Jimmy Jones Koolaid…so he died and is now a Brain eating Zombie…and If he lives in a Democrat city…..He will starve to death…!
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Arshloch
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 5:54pmEasy, the head must belong to a dumb-o-crat and, erog, it passed through an empty space.
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Carbine
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 5:42pmThat’s easy, he is a democrat. There’s so much empty space how can you really get hurt?
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BIgWheeler
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 11:37amOk, so a man walks into a bar… heh heh heh.
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RamonPreston
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 10:21amAll I can say is I’m thankful it wasn’t me. Heal well, Eduardo.
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Gonzo
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 9:07amI have several employees that could survive a pole through the head with no noticeable drop off in intelligence.
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RamonPreston
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 10:16amI have had supervisors the same way. As a matter of fact, the dumbest man I know is a supervisor.
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bt1
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 5:22pmlol……and vote democrat
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Concerned1
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 7:13amSome of the comments that are supposed to be jokes are appallingly insensitive. How would you like it if this happened to you? Show some compassion.
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Raging_Waters
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 4:33amA pole in one? :) ..but seriously, it’s amazing he survived.
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ALL-IN
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 3:47amMust have been a UNION worker. Nothing in there to damage!
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Walkabout
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 9:56pmThe guys working construction in Brasil are salt of the earth, hard working guys. No slackers or welfare cases there.
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Captain Crunch
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 9:56pmThe contractor involved is going to feel lots of pain by the time OSHA gets done with them.
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Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 12:43amDo they have OSHA in Brazil? I thought that was just an American thing.
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KingCanon
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 9:17pmHE>i….
That’s the only explanation!
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Stelex
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 8:43pmMust be a liberal, you can poke holes all over there brain and nothin happens. Introduce a little logic and KBOOOOOOM. Just ask him if 2+2=4, if he pauses liberal. If not very lucky conservative.
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NovoCombo
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 8:37pmThank you, God!
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Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 8:32pmLuckily, he does most of his thinking with the “Little” head.
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FEWL
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 8:09pmBecause sometimes, God really IS watching…
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Polarized America
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 8:03pmwell this guy survived something like this back in 1848
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phineas_Gage
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Valuable
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 9:35pmI was going to post about Phineas Gage but you beat me to it! That is an even more miraculous story of survival given when it was!!
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HappyHaloHousewife
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 1:18pmThe thing about Phineas Gage, if memory serves from a long ago psych class, ever afterwards he was belligerent and aggressive. So actually part of his brain was damaged enough to alter his demeanor. Curious to see if a similar result would happen in either of the two cases mentioned above. Brains are awesome.
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bt1
Posted on August 18, 2012 at 5:26pmWith Gage there may have been damage to the frontal lobe which can mess with personality and inhibitions….
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wisehiney
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 7:57pmInsert punchline here…….
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DREDGE
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 8:24pmNot to tough to miss a pea sized brain!!!
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The_Almighty_Creestof
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 7:55pmWe need to investigate this…because he is probably safe from brain eating zombies as well!
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Aiser
Posted on August 17, 2012 at 7:50pm****! =x o.O
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