In August 2019, a scuba diver had a terrible accident while fishing off the coast of Scottsburgh in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
The 48-year-old man, who had over 30 years of experience, made a big mistake at the end of his underwater fishing trip. He loaded his rifle just before swimming back to shore.
While swimming, the rifle’s trigger was accidentally pressed, and the spear shot towards his face, going through his skull from side to side.
Despite the shock and pain, the diver managed to swim to the beach, where some people saw him and quickly called for help.
He was rushed to the hospital, and the doctors were shocked to find that he was fully conscious. The spear had gone through the right side of his skull, just above his jaw, and came out near his left eye.
Miraculously, he didn’t have any damage to the nerves in his face. Later, he spoke to a local TV station and said:
“I made a stupid mistake because I was too confident in my experience and my passion. When the spear went through my head, my vision went blurry, and I started seeing double, like I had taken a strong drug… but I couldn’t stop. I knew swimming was my only chance to survive.
The pain hit me hard when I finally made it to the beach, and I heard people shouting for help.
I want to tell everyone who shares my passion not to make the same foolish mistake I did.”