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Mateus F.* (21) and his friends celebrated New Year’s Eve in Rio de Janeiro. Suddenly the student was “hit by something hard,” he told Brazilian media. He thought it was a stone, dressed the slightly bleeding wound and continued partying. There was actually a nine-millimeter bullet in his head, but he didn’t notice it until four days later.
F. drove home to Juiz de Fora. But then symptoms suddenly appeared. His arm felt numb and he had cramps. He had to take breaks again and again – and it took him seven hours to cover the distance of just over 300 kilometers.
It could be paralyzed
An X-ray of the student’s head was taken at his residence. The young man had to undergo emergency surgery immediately because there was a foreign body in his head. “If the bullet had penetrated even a few millimeters further, the entire half of the body could have been paralyzed,” he says. Thanks to the operation, F. should make a full recovery within twenty to thirty days, according to his doctors.
In any case, F. did not hear the shot. But for him, the surgery was a wake-up call and a reminder of why he studies medicine. “In the hospital I realized that this is really what I always wanted,” he tells Globo TV.
For F’s mother it is a real miracle. “It’s inexplicable how someone can have a bullet in the head for four days and survive. I feel like my son has been reborn,” she says happily.
Where the bullet came from and who fired it remains a mystery. The Brazilian police have started an investigation. According to military police, no shootings were recorded on Rio de Janeiro’s beach on New Year’s Eve. (jwg)
*Name known
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
