7:04am UK, Tuesday March 31, 2009

Surgeons have successfully removed a six-inch fishing spear from a man’s head after he was shot while diving off the Brazilian coast.

Image of spear imbeded in a Brazilian diver’s head

Emerson de Oliveira Abreu apparently fired the spike that ricocheted off rocks and hit him, near the city of Rio de Janeiro.

The spike penetrated his head so deeply that only the tip was showing, family members and authorities said.

Reports initially claimed Mr Abreu was accidentally shot by a friend.

Diver is recovering in hospital

Doctor Manoel Moreira told Globo TV it took five hours of high-risk surgery to remove the projectile.

The surgeon said Mr Abreu is expected to show a full recovery and that only his sense of smell may be impaired temporarily.

The spear entered just above Mr Abreu’s left eye and missed the most critical areas of his brain, Dr Moreira said.

Mr Abreu’s friend Douglas Martins, who was fishing with him at the time, said the injured fisherman was conscious and talking after the accident.

“It’s a miracle,” Mr Abreu’s aunt Dilene Moreira told Globo TV.

The patient is set to be released from Saracurana hospital in a week.