GRAPHIC: Teen impaled in freak accident after slipping on ice

WAKEENEY, Kan. (KWCH/Gray News) - A 15-year-old in Kansas is recovering after a slip on the ice led to a freak accident.

The teen was helping with snow removal Saturday when he slipped on ice and impaled himself on a pair of pliers.

Joey Zeman said a fall on the ice wouldn’t normally be a big deal. However, when he stood up, it was clear he needed immediate medical attention.

“Well, I got up and noticed my pliers weren’t in my pouch. And I looked down and they were inside me,” Zeman said.

The tool pierced Zeman’s skin when he landed on it as one of the handles was stuck inches into his side.

“It tried to pull them out a couple of times when I first saw they were in there,” he said. “They didn’t come out. I called my mom and told her that I was on my way to the ER ‘cause my pliers were inside me.”

Alicia Zeman said she at first didn’t believe her son as he often makes jokes with her about going to the emergency room. This time he was serious, however.

“I couldn’t believe it ‘cause I just thought maybe it just poked it or (there was) a little hole or something, not literally stuck in there and hanging out,” she said.

Unable to remove the pliers, Joey Zeman knew his situation was much more serious. He received initial treatment at the hospital in WaKeeney where nurse practitioner Sarah Gibbs was shocked at his status.

“(At) critical access hospitals, (you) see a lot of everything, and that is something I’ve never seen before and probably will ever see again,” she said.

Gibbs acted fast, which meant a helicopter ride for the teen to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita.

“I immediately reached out to our surgical backup options to see what was available for (the) worst-case scenario being that we take it out and he has internal bleeding that needs to be controlled rapidly with surgery,” Gibbs said.

No major surgery was necessary and Joey Zeman fortunately returned home after a short hospital stay.