Man narrowly escapes death after 3ft iron rod penetrated through his groin and into his chest following fall

A man miraculously avoided death after being impaled by an iron rod through his perineum in a freak accident. 

Gruesome scans show how the rod extended into the 57-year-old’s chest. 

The Brazilian man, who wasn’t identified by doctors who shared the gory case in a medical journal, was on scaffolding when he slipped and fell 5m onto the pole. 

Impaling him in a delicate area, it pierced through his liver and and reached the top of his diaphragm, narrowly missing his heart. 

CT scans also revealed the rod had impaled his abdomen and thorax, but incredibly he survived.  

Sharing eye-watering details of the injury, doctors told how they removed the pole in a painstaking operation. 

Medics revealed he somehow escaped with no lasting problems and was discharged to a general ward after just three days. 

Upon arrival at Complexo Hospitalar do Trabalhador in Curitiba, his heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen levels were all ‘stable’. 

The man was rushed into emergency surgery, to undergo a sternotomy — where the breastbone is cut through and split apart to reach the rod.

They successfully removed the pole, along with damaged tissue and stitched up the internal wound. 

He was then transferred to intensive care, where he received blood transfusions. 

Just two days later, medics reported he was able to walk and eat.

When moved to the ward, the following day, he was also offered physiotherapy.  

Sharing eye-watering details of the injury, doctors told how they removed the pole in a painstaking operation. Medics revealed he somehow escaped with no lasting problems and was discharged to a general ward after just three days 

During a discharge assessment 12 days after his operation, doctors discovered abnormal scar tissue on part of his urethra and arrangements were made for further surgery to fix this. 

However, they did not reveal if the procedure went ahead and if he attended any follow-up appointments. 

Nor did they give any more details about his accident.

Writing in the International Journal of Surgery Case Reports, medics acknowledged such incidents are ‘rare’, but more common ‘among construction workers’. 

Perineal impalement injuries can prove fatal in around a quarter of all patients admitted to hospital, even when timely surgery is performed, they added. 

Complications such as abscesses or sepsis also occur in up to 80 per cent of perineal trauma cases.