Miraculous survivor of harpoon shooting

A woman, who was accidentally shot by her husband with a harpoon, miraculously survived and is now recovering.

08:55 13 May 2013

In a very bizarre accident, a woman from Arraial do Cabo, 150km (93 miles) east of Rio de Janeiro, was shot by a harpoon while her husband was cleaning it. The harpoon entered through her mouth and was lodged against her spine.

According to reports, the husband was cleaning the harpoon, which he uses for fishing, in the living room. He accidentally shot his wife who was then in the kitchen.

 

The wife was immediately brought to the local hospital and was transferred to regional hospital near Araruama where she was operated on.

She is now recovering and is expected to live.

 

"This is the first case of this type I have seen," Dr Costa said.

 

"The peculiarity of this case is that the tip of the harpoon lodged itself between the anterior vertebral canal and the medullary canal," he said.

 

"One centimetre further in, and she would have been paralysed, one centimetre further out and it would have hit an artery which provides the brain [with blood] and she would have been dead."