Teen survives spear impalement through skull

Yasser Lopez, 16, is currently recovering from a June 7th accident in which a spear gun his friend was holding accidentally discharged, causing a spear more than three-feet long to impale his skull and brain. Amazingly the teen survived, and was even able to speak to doctors throughout the whole ordeal.

In this image from Jackson Memorial Hospital where Yasser was treated, the spear is seen penetrating the front and back of the 16-year-old's skull. Keep clicking to learn more about the case that some doctors are calling a miracle...

According to a statement from Jackson Hospital, the spear entered the teen's head about two inches about the right eye. Doctors used a rebar cutter and locking pliers to stabilize the spear in the patient's head and remove 18 inches of the protruding spear from Yasser's forehead to allow doctors to perform X-rays on the patient.

CBS Miami reported that Yasser's doctors needed to make sure none of the major blood vessels were injured so they performed an angiogram to take a picture of his blood flow to look for any problems. Miraculously there wasn't such damage. What's more, the left side of the brain where the injury occurred is considered "non-dominant" and doesn't control crucial areas such as cognition and speech.

"The things that allowed it to go relatively well so far was that number one, it was the non-dominant hemisphere on the right side instead of the left side of the brain, number one; and number two, miraculously, it missed all the main blood vessels in the brain. It also missed the deep seated structures in the brain," said Dr. Ross Bullock, a neurosurgeon and professor of neurological surgery and clinical director of the neurotrauma program at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital.

"The amazing thing is that he has been able to speak right now with short sentences and to make his needs felt," said Dr. Bullock told . "His words are amazingly easy to understand. He can for example say that he does not have pain, but he is worried about the fact that he can't use his left side properly."

The spear was successfully removed in the operating room over a three-hour surgery. Yasser is currently listed in "serious condition" but his doctors are optimistic about his recovery.