An Aussie tradie has miraculously retained his vision after his eye was struck with a nail while renovating his home.
Stephan Giersberg, 45, was fitting a new window frame in his living room at his house in Boyup Brook, in Western Australia‘s southwest, when the accident occurred on August 17.
Mr Gierberg was using a nail gun to put the frame into place when one 35mm nail ricocheted off the wall and lodged in his left eye.
He was not wearing safety glasses at the time.
‘I had scratched my glasses and I thought, ‘it’s just a few nails, what can go wrong?’ he told 7News.
Stephan Giersberg (pictured right), 45, was renovating his home when he was struck in the eye with a nail
‘That was my mistake.’
Mr Gierberg initially thought a splinter from the wall had struck his eye before he walked over to the mirror and realised it was a nail.
The former chef managed to drive himself to a local hospital, where staff placed a paper cup over the injury so the nail wasn’t driven further into his eye.
He was then flown to Royal Perth Hospital via helicopter.
Doctors advised against a plane as they were unsure if his injury would worsen travelling at a higher altitude.
Surgeons operated on Mr Gierberg’s eye by cutting into it, removing the nail and then stitching it back up.
Amazingly, he will recover 100 per cent of his vision within three months.
Doctors revealed that if the nail was a millimetre on either side of his left eye he would’ve been permanently blinded.
WA Country Health Service shared a post to Facebook about the miraculous story.
‘After accidentally taking a nail to the eye, Boyup Brook local Stephan has credited the local hospital with helping to save his vision,’ the post read.
Mr Gierberg told the hospital: ‘The whole time I felt like I was in very safe hands, I feel incredibly lucky’.
He thanked the doctors, nurses, surgeons and aftercare workers for their individual efforts in getting the nail removed and providing care during his recovery.
He is already back on the tools performing ‘light duties’ and is now wearing full protective gear at all times.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk