# Epic fail with a spear gun



## TheRoguePirate (Nov 3, 2011)

*Florida boy makes miraculous recovery after being shot in the head with a three-foot spear *



A Florida teen is undergoing a miraculous recovery after he was accidentally shot in the head with a spear gun.
Yasser Lopez, 16, was on a fishing trip with friends June 7 when the spear gun they had brought along accidentally went off, shooting the 3-foot-spear through the teen's skull, according to Miami’s WSVN 7 News.
The spear miraculously missed all the major blood vessels in Lopez’s brain, doctors at Jackson Memorial Hospital 



 Monday.
The spear entered the boy's head about an inch above his right eye and went straight through the skull, doctors said.
"It's a striking injury," Dr. George Garcia told reporters. "It's something you don't see every day, a patient who arrives awake and speaking with a 3-foot-spear in his head."
When the teen arrived at the hospital, medical staff used rebar cutters and vise grips from the Miami-Dade fire department to cut the shaft protruding from the boy's head so that they could fit him inside a CT scan machine.
By interviewing the family, doctors learned that the stainless steel spear had an unscrewable tip, said Dr. Ross Bullock, a trauma neurosurgeon at Jackson Memorial. They were able to remove it before trying to extract the entire object from Lopez’s head.
It was a stroke of luck for Lopez that no one panicked and attempted to remove the spear before the teen got into surgery, since doing so could have damaged his brain, Bullock added.
"The amazing thing is that the boy is able to speak a little now," Bullock told reporters. "He's saying short sentences, he's out of bed, he's able to make his needs felt."
The teen has no memory of the accident and may never regain those memories, the doctor said.
Bullock estimated that it may take Lopez two or three months in rehab before he can leave the hospital. "We are very upbeat about his potential for recovery," the surgeon said.


Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/nat...ee-foot-spear-article-1.1098406#ixzz1yFxHU58X


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## Firefishvideo (Jul 1, 2010)

wonder if they got a ticket for spearfising in fresh water?:whistling:
(the two teens were "catching" fish in a small pond)


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## Ringo Redux (Jul 7, 2010)

I think they could get them for possession of a speargun in freshwater. But, I'm not sure if 16 year olds are on the prohibited fish list.. I'm saying his buddy tried to stone him..


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## coolbluestreak (Jun 27, 2011)

Ouch!
That would be a good start to bad day.


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## jakec (Oct 14, 2010)

i hate it when that happens.


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## aquatic argobull (Mar 2, 2009)

Firefishvideo said:


> wonder if they got a ticket for spearfising in fresh water?:whistling:
> (the two teens were "catching" fish in a small pond)


Thats the first thing I thought, read through hundreds of comments on it and nobody mentioned it. Seems like spearfishing in 3 inch visibility has its downsides...




Ringo Redux said:


> I think they could get them for possession of a speargun in freshwater. But, I'm not sure if 16 year olds are on the prohibited fish list.. I'm saying his buddy tried to stone him..


too soon :no:


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## FenderBender (Oct 2, 2007)

This is why I don't load spearguns on the boat, or put loaded spearguns coming out of the water in my boat.


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## MillerTime (Jul 6, 2011)

I think I would be leery of touching a speargun if I were him from now on. But then again if I couldn't remember what happened then it might not phase me.


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## Firefishvideo (Jul 1, 2010)

FenderBender said:


> This is why I don't load spearguns on the boat, or put loaded spearguns coming out of the water in my boat.


 Yep, got to be careful.....I had a spear pass just inches from me .....diver exiting the water above me had not uncocked their speargun.:001_huh: a few inches over and i would have been a *shish kabob! Should have seen the look on THEIR face.*
*PS: not one of my current dive buddies.*


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## Orion45 (Jun 26, 2008)

Unload your speargun before you start your ascent. You're most likely too low on air to take the time to shoot anything worthwhile anyway.


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