A flying nut from a water pump on January 6 pierced the skull of a five-year-old boy and reached close to his brain, but the doctors managed to remove it through a prompt surgery at a hospital in Bihar's East Champaran district.

The accident took place when the fan belt of the water pump snapped, sending its nuts and bolts flying and a nut piercing the boy's skull. The boy, a resident of Kathriya village under the Chouradano police station area of the district, was brought to the Chandra Hospital situated in Motihari, with blood smeared over his face and a two-inch-long piece of iron sticking out of his forehead presenting a macabre sight.

"A group of children were playing close to the water pump which was under repair. During trial of the machine, the fan belt snapped and its nuts and bolts flew into the air and one of these hit the boy," the boy's uncle, who brought him to the hospital, said.

Chandra Suvash, an orthopaedic surgeon, who runs the private hospital, said, "Tests conducted on the boy revealed that the nut was barely scraping his brain. He was fortunate that a 20 mm washer attached to the nut prevented it from going deeper, which could have damaged his cerebral structure." 

"Luckily for us, neurosurgeon Rohit Kumar who is with the PMCH hospital at Patna and visits our hospital weekly as a consultant was also here. We studied the boy's condition and decided to put him under the scalpel right away," Dr Suvash said.

There is no danger to the boy's brain after removal of the nut, he said.

He will be kept under observation for a few days, the doctor said.