A South Jersey father was impaled by a tree branch in his face when he fell from a ladder in his yard in a freak accident.
Troy Hathaway, 45, was cutting branches in his backyard in Glassboro, New Jersey, when the ladder suddenly gave way, and he fell about 8 feet, and CBS Philadelphia documented the tricky medical intervention that saved his life at Jefferson Health.
“X-rays showed the tree branch going through his cheek, nose, eye and up into his brain.”
Hathaway said, “Initially, I really thought I broke my jaw.”
He didn’t know at the time, but the broken tree branch was sticking out of his jaw.
“I hadn’t lost consciousness, I wasn’t nauseous, I felt fine other than being a little bit sore and my ego being a bit bruised,” Hathaway said.
At Jefferson Health’s trauma center, doctors knew immediately they were facing a medical emergency.
“This was a pretty huge piece of tree that was stuck through his face and into his brain. And we needed to move quickly on this, but we wanted to move smart,” Neurosurgeon Chris Farrell said, and Farrell said the team wanted to avoid having to cut the skull and decided to go through the nose, which is sometimes how they remove brain tumors.
Surgeons spent 4 hours removing the branch.
The surgery was delicate, and the stakes could not have been higher for the Glassboro resident.
The branch didn’t hit anything vital and they were able to remove the tree from his face.
The four-hour surgery left him with just a few stitches and some bruising, but no issues with breathing, or seeing.
Hathaway spoke to media immediately after learning the full scope of his survival.
“I was so lucky to be with such an amazing surgical team, like the doctors, the whole team are absolutely beyond words,” Hathaway said.
When asked directly about his condition post-surgery, Hathaway was resolute.
“Absolutely. Yes, no, no issues. That’s it’s mind-boggling to think of that,” Hathaway said.
“It’s emotional because it’s tough to sit there and think like how close it could have been.”
Hathaway is on antibiotics and back home feeling lucky and grateful to be reunited with his wife and daughter.
Doctors were concerned about infection, but there are no signs of that and he is expected to make a full recovery with no issues.
In the viral moment at the heart of this story, a routine backyard job turned catastrophic.
Hathaway was cutting branches in his backyard in Glassboro, New Jersey, when the ladder suddenly gave way, and he fell about 8 feet.
The broken tree branch was sticking out of his jaw.
The branch went through his nose and into his brain.
X-rays showed the tree branch going through his cheek, nose, eye and up into his brain.
Hathaway returned home where he could continue his recovery surrounded by family.