Yasel Lopez, Accidentally Shot in Head with Spear, Making Recovery

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Yasel Lopez was fishing with a friend in Miami when something terribly wrong happened. Yasel, 16, had his head pierced with a spear when a spear gun fired unexpectedly. The accident occurred two weeks ago and doctors are calling Lopez’s survival a miracle. The gun accidentally fired when the two teenagers were loading it with a spear. The force of the spear impact knocked Lopez into the water because it was so strong. The friend called 911 and Lopez was transported via air to Miami’s Jackson Memorial Hospital. On Monday, doctors discussed the incident and what it took to save Lopez’s life.

“We used a high-speed drill to drill the bone at either end to create an opening through which we could remove the spear,” one doctor said in front of reporters. The spear had to be cut first in order to prevent it from moving and to also allow doctors to perform tests. Once the spear was cut, the doctors were able to perform surgery on Lopez. “We were able to position him laying with his left side down, right side up, and then we were able to open a large incision.”

  

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Dr. George Garcia, one of the doctors who helped to save the life of the teenager, said that Lopez was interacting and awake with the hospital staff when he was brought into the building. Garcia said that Lopez became panicky and agitated at one point. “We didn’t know if that was a result of the injury to his brain or if he was just scared or in a lot of pain.” Garcia said the doctors were confident Lopez would survive because the teenager was lucid throughout the entire process.

Garcia called Lopez a “pretty incredible, very lucky boy. I expected he would do well because he was awake from the injury…The fact that he was speaking to the paramedics in route and stuff made me hopeful from the beginning.”

As of Monday, Lopez was only able to speak to his doctors in short sentences and is still in recovery. Doctors think that Lopez is suffering from post-traumatic amnesia, which means he might not remember the accident. There were three things that kept Lopez alive throughout the ordeal. Those three things include the side of this head that the spear penetrated, that the spear missed major blood vessels and that the spear did not damage vital brain structures.

“It’s just incredibly fortunate it’s a constellation of circumstances that came through in this amazing, freaky way,” said one doctor.