WAKeeney, Kansas – A 15-year-old boy from the town of WaKeeney, Kansas, experienced a horrifying accident when he slipped on ice and was impaled by a pair of pliers. The incident occurred over the weekend while Joey Zeman was shoveling snow outside his family’s home. After taking a fall, Zeman realized that his pliers were missing, only to soon discover that they were lodged inside his body.
Gory images shared by Zeman’s mother, Alicia Zeman, show the handle of the pliers embedded just above Joey’s hip, with the sheath hanging at his side. In shock, Joey initially tried to remove the pliers himself, but they proved to be firmly stuck. He immediately informed his mother and explained that he needed to go to the emergency room.
Upon hearing the news, Alicia Zeman thought her son was joking. She could not believe that the pliers were actually lodged in his body. They quickly made their way to the local hospital, where a nurse practitioner named Sarah Gibbs was taken aback by the unusual injury. Gibbs shared that she had never seen anything like it before and reached out for surgical backup options in case of any internal bleeding.
Joey was airlifted to Wesley Medical Center in Wichita, where the pliers were removed in the emergency room. A CT scan confirmed that no major organs had been affected, and Joey is expected to make a full recovery. Despite the severity of the accident, Zeman expressed gratitude that the outcome was not worse.
Now back home, Joey is navigating his recovery using crutches and has learned a valuable lesson about the dangers of shoveling snow with sharp objects. His mother advises against carrying pliers on icy surfaces to prevent similar accidents from happening.
This incident serves as a reminder to prioritize safety during winter weather conditions and to exercise caution when performing outdoor tasks.