- Chayathorn Thankrathok, 14, was fishing with his friends in a canal in Thailand.
- His spear ricocheted and hit him in the face after firing it.
- Fortunately, surgeons managed to remove the spear that was lodged in his skull.
A 14-year-old boy miraculously survived after accidentally shooting himself in the head with a foot-long harpoon in Thailand.
Chayathorn Thankrathok was with his friends hunting for fish in a canal in Nakhon Ratchasima province on Sunday.
But when he fired the harpoon into the water, it allegedly hit rocks below the surface and then ricocheted back toward his face, piercing his skull and lodging between his eyebrows.
The panicked youths called the rescue team, who found Chayathorn breathing heavily as he lay on the ground with the harpoon protruding from his head.
The group took the boy to Chakkarat hospital, where doctors cut off a part of the harpoon.
Chayathorn Thankrathok (pictured, centre) was rushed to a nearby hospital by his friends after his horrific injury.
The fishing harpoon managed to lodge between his eyebrows after bouncing off a rock
He and his friends were fishing in a canal in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, on Sunday.
CT scans revealed that the harpoon had “penetrated deeply into the skull all the way to the brain.” Because the procedure was too complicated, local doctors had to transfer the teenager to the larger Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital, where there was better equipment.
Surgeons successfully removed the harpoon without having to open Chaiyathorn’s skull.
Despite this, he is still being monitored for possible infections or brain damage.
Chayathorn said: ‘I remember shooting the harpoon at a fish and then it hit me on the head. I felt pain and fell. I feel better now, but I won’t use the fishing spear again.
Emergency services found him breathing heavily as he lay on the ground with the spear sticking out of his heart.
A paramedic said: “The victim missed a fish and then the spear bounced back towards his face.” It was embedded in his skull, so he’s very lucky to be alive.
Surgeons at Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital successfully removed the harpoon without having to open Chaiyathorn’s skull.
Chaiyathorn and his friends were fishing in a nearby canal when he suffered the injury.
Chaisit Phupharat, head of Hook 31 Rescue Unit who responded to the incident, said: “Villagers said they often use harpoons instead of rods for fishing.
‘The victim missed a fish and then the spear bounced back towards his face. It was embedded in his skull, so he’s very lucky to be alive.
The shocking incident comes a year after a 30-year-old man was rushed to hospital after shooting himself in the face with his own harpoon in Rayong province, eastern Thailand.
The sharp object had penetrated the left side of the man’s face, passing through his nose and exiting through the opposite cheek.
Seeing him emerge from the water with the spear through his left cheek and “through his nose,” his horrified friends bundled him into the sidecar of their motorcycle and rushed him to an emergency center six miles away.
The harpoon reportedly ‘exploded’ sending the 4ft long spear into his face in Thailand’s Mor Mui Reservoir.
With the spear penetrating his left cheek and “going all the way through his nose,” his horrified friends bundled him into the sidecar of their motorcycle and rushed him to an emergency center.
His friend Rung Arun told local media that upon arrival he was given emergency first aid after “losing a lot of blood, turning very pale and losing his pulse.”
A hospital spokesperson said: “On December 7, 2022 at 5:00 p.m., the Pluak Daeng District Rescue Center, Rayong, was informed that an injured person was shot with a fishing gun.
‘Because the harpoon pierced his left cheek area through his nose, the staff gave him first aid before rushing him to Pluak Daeng Hospital.
‘It is believed that an underwater tree branch pressed the trigger. causing the gun to fire
“Because this type of harpoon has no safety system.”
