A Chinese truck driver had an incredible escape after being speared by a 6m wooden stake during a horror-pile up.
Li Feng, 40, was pinned to his cabin by the sharpened pole after the smash in the city of Kaifeng, in China’s Henan province.
But incredibly he is now predicted to survive the ordeal after doctors found the timber had missed his heart by inches.
The multi-vehicle accident saw the lorry driven by Mr Li Feng crash into a vehicle carrying timber.
Doctors found that the wooden stake had damaged the truckers’ stomach, spleen and left lung, but he survived because it missed his heart.
It took another four hours of operating to successfully remove the wood and doctors say that the man is now expected to recover.
Chinese police spokesman Li Wu described the horror smash.
He said: “As a result of the accident, several of the wooden poles that were sticking out over the allowed limit from the lorry in front, speared into the lorry behind and smashed into the cab.
“One of them went into the body of the driver who was pinned to his seat.”
Firemen realised it was impossible to remove the wooden stake so they simply cut it free, unfixed the bolts and took him in the ambulance still pinned to the seat.
Following his treatment, Mr Li is now in a stable condition but that he is likely to remain in hospital for several weeks.
Doctor Chung Peng said: “The only risk now is that we may not have removed all of the dirt and fragments of wood or material that may have been forced into his body. If no infection sets in during the next few days, we expect him to make a full recovery.”
