US man impaled through eye with pruning shears

An 86-year-old Arizona man is lucky to be alive after he accidentally impaled himself with pruning shears.

Leroy Luetscher was working in his back garden when he dropped a pair of pruning shears, which landed point-side down in the ground.

A pair of pruning shears embedded in the head of Leroy Luetscher 

 

When Luetscher went to pick them up, he lost his balance and fell face-down on the handle. The handle penetrated his eye socket and went down into his neck, resting on the external carotid artery. Half the shears were left in his head, while the other half was sticking out.

An X-ray of Mr Luetscher's head showed the severity of the injury.

"You wouldn't believe your eyes," said doctor Julie Wynne.

Mr Luetscher was rushed to the hospital, where surgeons removed the shears and rebuilt his orbital floor with metal mesh, saving his eye.

Doctors say Mr Luetscher still has slight swelling in his eyelids and minor double vision but has otherwise recovered.
He has thanked the doctors at the University Medical Center for their remarkable work.
"I am so grateful to the doctors and staff at UMC," he said.