A 65-year-old woman escaped death after being impaled by a metal rod almost 60 centimeters long.
The rusty rod was sticking out of the ground in a pasture in India where the woman was tending her cows when it fell to the ground. and fell directly on top of himrear first.
It entered the rectum, perforating it, and extended into the space behind the peritoneum, the lining that covers the abdominal organs.
The rod miraculously avoided damaging his blood vessels and organs, according to a medical report on his case.
But he needed antibiotics and a tetanus shot to prevent infection because the rod was rusty and covered in mud and cow dung.
The CT scan shows the rusty metal rod missed crucial blood vessels and organs, miraculously leaving no serious damage.
She underwent a two-hour surgery to remove the rod by sliding it through her rectum and repair the perforation there.
Doctors in Manipal, India, said the woman’s case was a rare instance of impalement through the rear, which was even rarer because it left no serious or lasting damage.
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According to the patient: ‘We have a large field near our house and we plant these iron rods in the ground to support the vines.
‘That day when I went out, it was still dark and raining. I took my cow out to pasture and I had wrapped the rope around my wrist.
‘I don’t know why that cow got nervous and started pulling me hard. I, being an older lady, lost my balance and sat on my buttocks right on top of one of those rods. It was sudden and I didn’t have time to realize it.’
Screaming in pain and unable to walk, her family and a neighbor ran into the field to try to help her, but there was little they could do.
The rod was more than 19 inches long and entered the woman’s body when it fell on her while she was tending to her cows in a pasture.
A neighbor took her to a local health center, where a doctor who treated her immediately called an ambulance to take her to a better-equipped hospital.
She added: ‘I was very scared when they told me I needed immediate major surgery to remove that rod and they told me I might have to have a stoma (an opening in the abdomen that allows waste to leave the body).
“I was very shocked and upset when I was told that my stool would come out through my stomach. They once explained to me that it would be a temporary thing to save my life and made me understand that the operation was necessary.”
After the procedure, she had nausea and abdominal pain and could not walk. But after a few days she regained mobility and the pain disappeared.
In total, his recovery lasted about 10 days and he was able to go home in relatively good health.
The patient said: “After the reversal operation, I feel much better. I am grateful to all the doctors and nurses who took such good care of me.”
The case study was published in the International Journal of Surgical Case Reports.
The most notable example of impalement in history was that of the cruel Vlad III, prince of Wallachia (present-day Romania), who attempted to consolidate his power by gathering hundreds of nobles for a banquet.
But it turned into an intensely bloody affair, as attendees were stabbed and their still-living bodies impaled.
He earned the nickname Vlad the Impaler, whose real surname was Dracul (son of the dragon). He inspired the writer Bram Stoker to write his novel Dracula in 1897.
Currently, most reported cases involve accidental injuries from falling objects, sexual activities, or psychiatric behaviors, all of which can lead to rectal perforation.
