A BELLINGHAM dad has had a lucky escape after he impaled his eye on an 18-inch metal spike.
James Pattinson (28), was helping a friend secure a marquee on Monday when he fell on to a tent peg, driving it into his face underneath his left eye to a depth of two inches.
“I could feel something stuck to my face when I stood up and panicked a little bit, and tried to pull it out, but I couldn‘t because of the hook at the end,” he said.
“I could feel it touching the bone of my nose and everyone around me was pretty shocked.”
James, a greenkeeper at Stocksfield Gold Club, was flown to Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary by the Great North Air Ambulance, where surgeons removed the spike during a three-hour operation.
He is now recovering at home in Hesleyside.
**For the full report see the Hexham Courant this Friday.
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