Boy, 14, survives after accidentally shooting himself through the head with a foot-long harpoon while fishing in Thailand: Spear rebounded off rock and went through his face, into his brain

• Chayathorn Thankrathok, 14, was fishing with his pals at a canal in Thailand
• His spear bounced back and hit him in the face after he fired it
• Surgeons thankfully managed to remove the spear that was lodged in his skull 

A 14-year-old boy miraculously survived accidentally shooting himself in the head with a foot-long harpoon in Thailand.

Chayathorn Thankrathok was with his friends hunting fish in a canal in Nakhon Ratchasima province on Sunday.

But when he fired the harpoon into the water, it reportedly struck rocks below the surface then rebounded toward his face, piercing his skull and lodging between his eyebrows.

The panicked youngsters called the rescue team, who found Chayathorn breathing heavily as he lay on the ground with the harpoon jutting out of his head. 

The group rushed the boy to the Chakkarat Hospital, where doctors then cut off a part of the harpoon.

Chayathorn Thankrathok (pictured, centre) was rushed to a nearby hospital by his friends after his horrific injury 

The fishing spear managed to get lodged between his eyebrows after rebounding off a rock 

He and his friends were fishing in a canal in Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, on Sunday 

CT scans revealed that the harpoon had ‘penetrated the skull deep into the brain’. As the procedure was too complicated, local doctors had to transfer the teen to the bigger Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital, where there was better equipment.

Surgeons successfully removed the harpoon without having to saw open Chaiyathorn’s skull. 

Despite this, he is still being monitored for potential infections or brain damage.

Chayathorn said: ‘I remember firing the harpoon at a fish and then it hit me in the head. I was in pain and I fell down. I feel better now but I won’t use the fishing harpoon again.’

Emergency services found him breathing heavily as he lay on the floor with the spear poking out of his hear

One paramedic said: ‘The victim missed a fish then the spear bounced back toward his face. It was embedded in his skull, so he’s very lucky to be alive’

Surgeons at the Maharat Nakhon Ratchasima Hospital successfully removed the harpoon without having to saw open Chaiyathorn’s skull

Chaiyathorn’s and his friends were fishing in a nearby canal when he suffered the shock injury 

READ MORE: Filipino fisherman dies after harpooning fish, only for cable to wrap around his legs and send him tumbling into the water where he hit his head and drowned

Chaisit Phupharat, head of Rescue Unit Hook 31 that responded to the incident, said: ‘The villagers said they often use harpoons instead of rods for fishing.

‘The victim missed a fish then the spear bounced back toward his face. It was embedded in his skull, so he’s very lucky to be alive.’

The shock incident comes a year after a 30-year-old man was rushed to hospital after shooting himself in the face with his own harpoon in Rayong province, eastern Thailand. 

The sharp object had penetrated the left side of the man’s face, running straight through his nose and emerging through the opposite cheek.

Seeing him emerge from the water with the spear penetrating his left cheek and ‘going all the way through his nose’, his horrified pals bundled him into the sidecar of their motorbike and rushed him to an emergency centre six miles away. 

The harpoon reportedly ‘exploded’ sending the 4-ft long spear into his face at Thailand’s Mor Mui Reservoir

 With the spear penetrating his left cheek and ‘going all the way through his nose’, his horrified pals bundled him into the sidecar of their motorbike and rushed him to an emergency centre

Friend Rung Arun told local media that upon arrival he was given emergency first aid after ‘losing a lot of blood, turning very pale and losing his pulse.’

A hospital spokesman said: ‘On December 7, 2022 at 5.00pm, the Pluak Daeng District Rescue Center, Rayong, was informed that an injured person was shot by a fishing gun.

‘Because the harpoon impaled the left cheek area through the nose, the staff gave first aid before rushing him to Pluak Daeng Hospital.

‘It is thought that a tree branch under the water caught the trigger. causing the gun to fire

‘Because this type of harpoon does not have a safety system.’

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