Doctors at a hospital in Chennai carried out a miraculous surgery to remove a two-inch nail that had penetrated the head of a 23-year-old factory worker.

The nail got lodged in the youngster’s head after a co-worker’s nail gun had accidentally recoiled while he was sealing a box on the factory floor in Neravulu.

The surgeons carried out a 6-hour-long procedure with a special neurosurgery device called the diamond burr to gently drill around the nail before extracting it without causing any damage to the brain, according to a Times of India report.

The patient, Brahma, was reported to have been caught unawares in the factory and had complained of intense pain at the back of his head. His colleagues then noticed that a nail had entered his head at the junction with the neck and rushed him to the hospital for treatment. The incident took place on July 4.

Doctors said that Brahma was conscious when he arrived at Rela Hospital, and his blood pressure and pulse were normal.

“The nail was at least half an inch below the skin level in the craniovertebral junction complex transitional zone between the cranium and the spine. It comprises a complex balance of different elements and was close to the left vertebral artery. Any untoward event could cause speech issues, paralysis, or even death,” the hospital’s consultant neurosurgeon Dr M Anbuselvam told The Times of India.

“His blood pressure and pulse were normal and his young age was the biggest factor that worked in the favour of such a complex surgery,” Dr Anbuselvam added.