man gets a tap in the eye

Okay. This isn't for the squeamish. For me, anything to do with eye injury gives me the creeps... but the story of Mr. Zhao is worth telling.

Last week, Zhao, a 57-year resident of Chongqing, China, was going through his morning routine when he accidentally slipped and fell in his bathroom.

Zhao had the misfortune of falling in such a way that the sink tap (handle) went into his left eye. That is, into his eye.

Zhao's family immediately called emergency workers. When they arrived, Zhao was still leaning over the sink with the tap in his eye, unable to pull away. Firefighters cut the pipe with hydraulic shears and took Zhao to the hospital with the tap and a length of water-pipe sticking out of his eye.

When he arrived at the hospital, a plumber was called to shorten the pipe so that a CAT scan could be taken. The plumber was not able to shorten the pipe without causing Zhao more pain, so, it was decided that an X-ray would have to suffice.

As the developed X-ray and possible treatment was being discussed by the doctors, Zhao looked at his own X-ray and decided to take things into his own hands. After three hours of waiting, Zhao pulled the plumbing out of his eye by himself.

Now able to take a CAT scan, doctors say that Zhao has a fractured nose and facial bones, but his eye will be okay.

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