LOS
ANGELES, California (AP) -- A construction worker had six
nails driven into his head in an accident with a high-powered
nail gun, but doctors said Wednesday they expect him to make
a full recovery.
Three
nails penetrated Isidro Mejia's brain, and one entered his
spine below the base of his skull. Doctors said the nails
barely missed his brain stem and spinal cord, preventing paralysis
or death.
Six nails
are embedded in the skull of construction worker Isidro Mejia
shown in this x-ray.
He made his first public appearance Wednesday since the April
19 accident that left him with 3 1/2-inch nails embedded in
his face, neck and skull.
He told reporters in Spanish from his wheelchair that he does
not remember much about the accident, but is grateful to be
alive.
"He says that he's very happy to be alive," said Dr. Rafael
Quinonez, a neurosurgeon who removed the nails at Providence
Holy Cross Medical Center. "And he told me this morning that
he thought he was going to die. He was happy when he opened
his eyes, and he saw that he's still with us."
Mejia, 39, was atop an unfinished home when he fell from the
roof onto a co-worker who was using the nail gun, Los Angeles
County sheriff's Deputy Mark Newlands said.
The two men tried to grab each other to keep from falling,
but both tumbled to the ground. At some point, the nail gun
discharged and drove the nails into Mejia's head.
"They're extremely powerful," Newlands said. "They've got
to drive through three-quarter-inch plywood."
Quinonez said Mejia told authorities he remembered a "shock"
to the back of his neck and little else before passing out.
"We did not have too much hope that he would survive, but
we did it and he survived," Quinonez said, calling the recovery
"close to a miracle."
Mejia is walking with minimal assistance and speaks somewhat
slowly because his brain's speech center was affected, but
his progress has been "remarkable," Quinonez said. With rehabilitation
therapy, he should fully recover, he said.
"He is basically normal," Quinonez said.
Five nails were removed the same day and the sixth, in Mejia's
face, was removed April 23 after swelling went down, the hospital
said.
Authorities cleared the co-worker of any wrongdoing.
Three
nails penetrated Isidro Mejia's brain, and one entered his
spine below the base of his skull. Doctors said the nails
barely missed his brain stem and spinal cord, preventing paralysis
or death.
