[imagesource:southcoastherald]

Connie Hallowell can consider himself a lucky man, because not everyone who shoots themselves in the face with a spear gun lives to tell the tale.

The incident occurred on Friday, when Hallowell was scuba diving at Scottburgh, south of Durban, with the pastor airlifted to hospital for emergency treatment.

TimesLIVE reports that he is now in good spirits, although he was fearful when the incident happened:

“I just thought let me stay awake”…

Hallowell told the Sunday Tribune that he reached for the gun when a wave came and the trigger went off. At first he thought he had been hit in the face but realised what happened when he could not turn his head.

“I screamed for people to help me while I walked back towards the shore.”

The 48-year-old was pulled from the water by the lifeguards on duty, who helped stabilise his condition before emergency services took over.

Thankfully, Connie has made a swift recovery after having the spear removed:

When you consider where the spear entered, he was helluva lucky:

Those on the scene first tried to cut the spear with a bolt cutter, before eventually using an angle grinder to cut it shorter.

According to maxillo-­facial and oral surgeon Dr Ciaran Eamon Lalor, who operated on Connie, there was just a minor bone fracture, with the spear missing the vitals.

He was due to be released from hospital today.

Yeah, he’s a very lucky man.

[source:timeslive]