Impaled by pruning shears through eye, doing ok

Leroy Leutscher, 86, of Arizona, slipped and fell on a pair of pruning shears that went right through his eye and down his neck. Amazingly, he's doing pretty well given the circumstances. From The Telegraph:

Luetscher was rushed to the hospital, where surgeons removed the shears and rebuilt his orbital floor with metal mesh, saving his eye. Doctors say Mr Luetscher still has slight swelling in his eyelids and minor double vision but has otherwise recovered.

"US man impaled through eye with pruning shears" (via Fortean Times)

David Pescovitz is Boing Boing's co-editor/managing partner. He's also a research director at Institute for the Future. On Instagram, he's @pesco.

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Donald Petersen

Now there’s a surgical team whom I would tip most generously.
MDwebguy

Hell, I wake up after a typical Friday night at the pub with more than a slight swelling of the eyelids and minor double vision. Hats off to the docs who cared for Leroy!
- Pickled Whispers
  
  Don’t forget the paramedics/EMTs and nurses.
http://www.facebook.com/HyperionToASatyr Jack Holmes

I’m just imagining the Deus Ex: Human Revolution trailer and this guy looking at the pruning shears with his good eye and going “I never asked for this.”
http://twitter.com/TriadX1 Brad Sando

I would say that is one lucky guy, but then having a pruning shear jammed down your throat by the way of the EYE is not all that lucky…
Guest

Shear Luck
dr.hypercube

Y’know, I always though the other end of the shears was what I needed to worry about.
http://www.facebook.com/wordhole Neal Ross Attinson

No, now I know what “squick” means.
http://www.facebook.com/seanmccord Sean Michael McCord

I’ll just bet he was running with them.
Pickled Whispers

And he’s 86 years old, no less. Incroyable!
Guest

wha… handle end first? ow.
zombienietzsche

The title should read “Impaled by pruning shears through eye or ocular SOCKET, doing ok”. The title as it stands implies the shears went through the eye itself which it did not do, as he was able to keep the eye with “slight swelling in his eyelids and minor double vision”.

Still incredible regardless of a slightly misleading title.
awjt

You’re not supposed to run when you’re holding those.
John Irvine

I no longer feel so bad about neglecting to keep my hedge trimmed
this summer. I had no idea about the
risks I faced. Yikes.
knoxblox

Apparently, walking with scissors is just as dangerous as running with scissors, eh?
Guest

Well Handled.
James B

To get those bypass pruners properly sharp: take the pivot screw out then put a piece of sandpaper on a dead flat surface like furniture glass or a granite counter). Then grind both sides flat with successively finer grits of sandpaper. You have to do this when they are new, but I did this about ten years ago and mine will still cleanly snip a blade of grass. I actually blunted the pointed end with a belt sander to prevent injuries.
Godfree

Remember those days when we would sometimes get a unicorn chaser? I miss them.
http://openid-provider.appspot.com/lordbyteme Lord Byte

So the “he/she tripped and fell on them” defense still works eh :)
jenjavitis

UNICORN CHASER.
- teapot
  
  You can always rely on BB for a cannot-unsee.
Joe in Australia

If you tell people you got pruning shears in your eye everyone’s all sympathetic. But tell them that you slipped when you were vacuuming in the nude and you get nothing but snide innuendo.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Trent-Baker/100000123865597 Trent Baker

Its amazing what surgeons can achieve these days.
Guest

Owie! Get better soon, dude!
Stephen Jones

News cast said this morning it was the same surgical team that worked on Rep. Giffords after the shooting. Earning their money this year, aren’t they?
- Lobster
  
  Have you seen Giffords lately? They do damn fine work.
Lobster

Awww, Leroy… that’s not how you prune.