Teen speared through the neck by fish during family trip
WARNING – GRAPHIC CONTENT: A teenager is lucky to be alive after he was stabbed through the neck by a fish.
Muh Idul was out fishing in Indonesia on Saturday when he was stabbed by a needlefish, news site Makassar Terkin reports.
Photographs circulating on Facebook show the fish’s snout pierced all the way through Muh’s neck from right under his chin through to under the back of his skull.
The teen was rushed to a hospital in southeast Sulawesi before being transferred to Wahidin Sudirohusodo Hospital in Makassar City to undergo a delicate surgical procedure.
Five doctors including three surgeons and two anaesthetists helped to save Muh’s life.
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Dr Syafri Kamsul Arif told local media the team had to be “very careful” due to large vessels in the boy’s neck. It took two hours to perform the procedure.
Muh is recovering but doctors are monitoring him over the next few days in case of infection, news site Antara Sumsel reported.
The teen was said to be fishing with his parents at the time and it is believed needlefish “flew in their direction”.
Pictures of Muh’s injuries horrified people on Facebook after they were shared by TV show Ifish’s social media page.
“What a pain in the neck,” one woman wrote.
Another woman added “that would have bloody hurt”, while a man wrote, “No catch and release there.”
While the fish aren’t particularly dangerous to people there have been reports of injuries and deaths.
Thai navy trainee Kriangsak Pengpanich, 22, died in December 2018 when a needlefish pierced his neck during a training exercise, news site The Thaiger reported.
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