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Cyclist with branch in neck drives to hospital
'It's a good idea not to touch the foreign body'
(LIVESCIENCE) — A mountain biker in New Mexico was lucky not to sustain a serious injury after he fell off his bike and had a tree branch penetrate his neck, his doctors say.
The 40-year-old man was biking off-road when he fell, and his neck was impaled by the branch. The man didn't attempt to remove the branch, but instead drove 20 miles (32 kilometers) to a hospital, said Dr. Lev Deriy, an assistant professor and anesthesiologist at the University of New Mexico, who treated the patient.
Once at the hospital, a CT scan showed the branch extended about 0.6 inches (1.6 centimeters) into his neck.