Woman in a critical condition with a pair of pliers embedded in her skull after they fell 31 stories

A WOMAN in China is fighting for life after a bizarre incident in which she was pierced through the skull by a pair of falling pliers. Warning: Graphic

The pliers were wedged 15cm (6 inches) into her brain. Picture: CEN/Australscope

A WOMAN is in a critical condition after a bizarre accident in which she was pierced through the skull by a pair of falling pliers.

The tool fell 31 storeys from the window of a high-rise building and was travelling so fast by the time it reached the ground that it lodged itself in the woman’s head.

Wang Youfang, 58, a resident of Leshan City in south-western China’s Sichuan Province, is now unconscious and still in intensive care after surviving the horrific injury and the subsequent operation to remove the pliers.

According to reports, she was walking her granddaughter outside her home when the pliers struck her handle-first on the head.

The incident was witnessed by a neighbour who ran to call for help while Youfang’s one-year-old granddaughter cried non-stop by her grandma’s side.

Wang Youfang, 58, is in ‘critical condition’ after a pair of falling pliers pierced skull. Picture: CEN/Australscope

The pliers were wedged 15 centimetres (6 inches) into her brain, with only about 5 centimetres (2 inches) of the handle protruding.

Because of the severity of Wang’s injury, she was transferred three times between four hospitals before doctors at Sichuan University West China Hospital operated in a three-hour surgery.

By the time the tool was removed, it had been lodged in her skull for some 10 hours.

Despite successfully removing the pliers, medics say there is a high risk of infection, as the tools were dirty and the wound was too deep to clean thoroughly.

Leshan City authorities are now investigating how the incident occurred.

X-rays show the extent of the damage. Picture: CEN/Australscope