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Victorian teen 'cheats death' when tent peg lodges in his head in freak mowing accident

A Victorian teenager has cheated death when a ride-on lawnmower driven by his dad hit a tent peg and sent it flying at his throat.

Alessandro Scalzo is usually the one in charge of his family's ride-on mower, but the one day his dad decided to do it for him, the youngster ended up with a piece of metal buried in his jaw and neck.

The peg had sliced right through one of the 13-year-old's carotid arteries - a major source of blood to the head.

The 13-year-old ended up with a metal peg buried in his jaw and neck. Picture: 7 News
The 13-year-old ended up with a metal peg buried in his jaw and neck. Picture: 7 News

He was flown to hospital from Wangaratta to Melbourne, but miraculously, the brave youngster is recovering well and will soon be back at school.

It happened at the Scalzo family's property in Yarrawonga.

The tent peg had been hiding in knee-height grass, and the ride-on mower went straight over the top.

Alessandro Scalzo was flown to hospital from Wangaratta to Melbourne, and is recovering well after surgery. Picture: 7 News
Alessandro Scalzo was flown to hospital from Wangaratta to Melbourne, and is recovering well after surgery. Picture: 7 News

“I was about 10m away from [Dad], and I feel this thing hit my neck," Alessandro told 7 News.

"He stops the mower, gets off, he comes over to me and says 'What's wrong?' and I'm pointing to my neck.”

Dad Tony's initial thought was to yank out the peg, but luckily, he decided not to.

Alessandro Scalzo is usually the one in charge of his family's ride-on mower, but the one day his dad decided to do it for him, the youngster ended up in hospital. Picture: 7 News
Alessandro Scalzo is usually the one in charge of his family's ride-on mower, but the one day his dad decided to do it for him, the youngster ended up in hospital. Picture: 7 News

There was no blood visible, which doctors said was because the peg had effectively corked the artery, and moving it could have killed the boy.

“Well I didn't know how far it had gone in at the time, and I just said 'Wow.. what are you doing?' Tony said.

"I could see he had fear in his eyes, so I just kept saying look at me, look at me.”

Doctors were shocked to see the youngster's injury, saying they hadn't seen anything like it before. Picture: 7 News
Doctors were shocked to see the youngster's injury, saying they hadn't seen anything like it before. Picture: 7 News

The air ambulance picked Alessandro up from Wangaratta, and flew him to hospital in Melbourne.

Tony said the doctors were shocked, saying they hadn't seen anything like this before.

“When we got there, there was a team of doctors, nurses all standing around, going 'How the hell did this happen?!'" he retold.

Alessandro needed five hours of surgery, and a week at the Royal Children's hospital.

“He cheated death. He looked at it, laughed at it, and said "I'm not ready mate. See you later," Tony said.