Construction worker Sanjay Bahe, 21, was doing some repair work at a construction site when he fell down a well and the rod pierced straight through his head.
The young man, from Balaghat in central India, was rushed to B.J. Hospital in nearby Gondia, after the iron rod pierced from the right temporal region of his brain to the left frontal region.
A team of neurosurgeouns, lead by Dr Pramod Giri, rushed to perform a gruelling 90-minute surgery to remove the rod, as Sanjay went into a crucial state of hypotension, or low blood pressure.
Sanjay was resuscitated with blood and blood products and was taken for surgery at the Neuron Hospital.
And, miraculously, after an hour and a half of surgery, the rod was removed safely with hardly any bleeding or injury to the surrounding area.
Sanjay’s main venous sinus to the brain was preserved by just millimetres, said Dr Giri.
He said: “Giving anaesthesia to the patient in such cases is difficult. We did right by positioning the intubation to maintain vital channels in the brain during the operation.”
“I performed the surgery with all caution so that damage to the surrounding structures shouldn’t happen.”
The doctor added: “One complication that can take place in such cases is causing meningitis to the patient.
“Fortunately, he is doing fine after the surgery, and we are also taking care to prevent meningitis.”
By Ben Gelblum and Sarah Lumley