Woman survives after rod pierces mouth, head


Associated Press
December 7, 2004


ANDERSON, Ind. -- A woman survived a crash that drove a 12-foot metal rod through her mouth and out the back of her head and was still awake when emergency crews arrived, authorities said.

Alejandra Martinez, 28, of Anderson, was in critical condition late Monday, recovering from surgery at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, Anderson police spokesman Terry Sollars said.

Martinez drove through a stop sign Monday morning at an intersection on the city's southwest side and hit another car, Sollars said. She then lost control of her Ford Taurus, careened off the road and went through a chain-link fence.

Her car then went through the yard and hit a concrete porch, shoving it three feet back, Sollars said.

Sollars said the officer who first arrived called and said it was a fatality because what he saw was "horrendous." The round top rail, about an inch and a half in diameter, had been driven through the driver's side of the windshield, he said.

Emergency crews sawed off part of the pole to about 8 to 10 inches in front of Martinez's face so they could get her out of the car, Sollars said.

Her back-seat passenger, Morena Guadalupe, 39, who lives with her, was not injured.

Anderson Fire Department Battalion Chief Larry Towne said he was shocked to find Martinez alive and awake.

"Talk about having an angel as a co-pilot," Fire Chief J.R. Rosencrans told The Herald Bulletin. "On her rearview mirror she had a picture of the Madonna. You can tell she is a religious person."

Towne said Martinez was in shock but calm.

"She never complained, whined, didn't hardly say anything. That helped to keep the air around the scene calm."

An emergency room doctor treated Martinez while fire crews tried to extricate her, police said.

Her daughter, Elizabeth Diaz Martinez, said she, her parents, brother and sister moved to Anderson, about 35 miles northeast of Indianapolis, more than two years ago from Mexico.

I guess it would be kinda hard to say anything with a 1.5" steel rod stuck in your mouth...

I think that at one time or another most of you have heard the story of Phineas Gage






Phineas Gage

Harvey

Thanks for posting without pix

That is the first thing I thought of when I read this. I still remember the creepy pics of that skull and the steel rod from Ripley's Believe It or Not TV show when they did the bit on Phineus Gage... shudder.

Update in today's paper:

Woman who survived impaling to go home

Associated Press
December 18, 2004

ANDERSON, Ind. -- A woman who survived a crash that drove a 12-foot metal rod through her mouth and out the back of her head is expected to be released from a hospital in time to celebrate Christmas at home with her family.

Alejandra Martinez's relatives said she should be released from Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis on Monday, after about a two-week-long hospitalization.

On Dec. 6, Martinez, 28, drove past a stop sign at an Anderson intersection and struck another car.

Her car then careened off the road and through a chain-link fence -- a collision that drove the round top rail through the driver's side of the windshield and through her mouth and out the back of her head.

Emergency crews sawed off part of the pole to about 8 to 10 inches in front of Martinez's face so they could get her out of the car.

Her husband, Jose Martinez, said his wife is walking a little, but hasn't regained full mobility. Due to a spinal injury, she cannot move her left arm and will likely have to make the journey home in an ambulance, he said.

"Her spirits are very strong. Her strength is helping him through it," he said through interpreter Erika Sanchez.

The couple's 9-year-old daughter, Elizabeth Diaz Martinez, said that for Christmas she was "a princess Barbie, and I want my mom to be better."

Visitors said Alejandra Martinez has a tracheotomy tube and several stitches near her lip, but few other outward signs of trauma. After going home, she'll need the tube for three more weeks and wear a neck brace for four months.

The future for the uninsured Martinez family is still uncertain. Two bank accounts have been set up in the family's name, Sanchez said.

"(The last time Jose saw her) he saw a little bit of a smile," Sanchez said.

Elizabeth Diaz Martinez said she, her parents, brother and sister moved to Anderson, about 35 miles northeast of Indianapolis, more than two years ago from Mexico.

If i were a religious person as that woman, i would have been begging god to have placed another rod to kill me instantaneously than to have a pole through the face.

There are a couple of instances of people taking poles through the torso in the UK. They cut the pole infront and behind you and then take you to the hospital for the docs to take it out.

this is the one i think of when you said she got a rod in her head.
this guy lived ane left the hospital the next day!