Story By: Lisa-Maria Goertz, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash

A construction worker in China miraculously survived after a steel pipe fell 18 floors and hit him on the back, traversing his body and coming out from his chest.

The incident was reported in the city of Xuzhou in the eastern-central Chinese province of Jiangsu on 4 November.

According to local newspaper Yangtze Evening News, the steel pipe as thick as somebody’s forearm fell from the scaffolding 18 floors down, landing on the back of the construction worker identified as Jiang.

The metal rod penetrated through the man’s upper back and out through the side of his chest, after which he was rushed to the Xuzhou Renci Hospital.

According to Yangtze Evening News, Jiang had slipped into a coma and spent six days in the ICU in a critical state.

The man was found to have eight broken ribs, a comminuted fracture of the scapula, severe lung contusions, and blood pneumothorax.

After much consultation and preparation, doctors reportedly operated on the patient in a two-hour procedure which included draining the chest cavity and slowly exposing the wound around the tube, and repairing the nerves and blood vessels to be able to remove it.

According to a hospital report, Jiang is now in a stable condition in the ICU and is out of the woods, although due to the cement and rust on the bar there is a risk of soft tissue infection and organ failure due to the absorption of toxins.

Therefore he is likely to remain in the hospital for some time for close monitoring.

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