Pic shows: A scan showing Shen Xiaoying’s injury
A woman who embedded a pair of scissors in her skull following a botched DIY job calmly took a bus to hospital where doctors were stunned.
Shen Xiaoying, 57, was trying to harvest the leaves of the toona sinensis - also known as Chinese mahogany - growing in front of her home in Xiangyang City in Central China’s Hubei Province.
However, the tree was tall and Shen could not reach them, so she decided to tie the scissors to the end of a long bamboo pole for the job.
She was hacking away when the heavy front end of the bamboo snapped, sending the scissors falling blades first towards the ground and right onto her head.
"I feared for my life at first but realised I could still move," Shen said, adding: "So my family and I took a bus to the hospital."
Neurosurgeons at Xiangyang’s First People’s Hospital said the DIY scissors were embedded 1.5 inches in her skull and had reached her brain.
Surprisingly, she suffered no adverse effects besides some numbness and dizziness, and could still talk and move like usual.
She appears to have escapes severe brain damage and had the scissors removed in two minimally invasive surgeries.
Her numbness has subsided and she can expect to be discharged in a few days.
Chinese mahogany is used for furniture and instrument making, while its leaves are eaten as vegetables.