In Soledad, Colombia one night, 22-year-old Daniel Del Valle Serrano whipped out a knife and stabbed his girlfriend’s brother in the left eye before taking off.
The victim, Alberto Palacio Vizcaino, also 22, recalled the incident, “[Serrano] swore at me, took a knife out, and when I tried to step back from him, he simply attacked.”
Vizcaino was immediately rushed to the hospital by his relatives – but he ended up having to wait about 18 hours before doctors could attend to him and remove the knife.
He’d wanted to take the blade out himself, but couldn’t because “it was too tightly wedged in.”
When doctors finally attended Vizcaino they had to first run scans and take X-rays of Vizcaino’s skull before proceeding; they didn’t want to misstep and cause any further damage as they removed the knife.
The knife had dug about three inches into Vizcaino’s eye socket, and also pierced his brain.
Dr. Alberto Dau Acosta, who led the surgical removal process, managed to clearly remove the knife and was thrilled to discover that Vizcaino’s pupillary reflexes were still intact. The procedure was a success.
Vizcaino still has about 90% of the sight in his left eye, and he suffers from no brain damage. He reports being able to “see really clear,” and not “feel[ing] anything” at all. Doctors say that Vizcaino might need further surgery to stabilize his condition, but are confident he will make a full recovery.
The attacker, Serrano, has yet to be found, but police are keeping a careful eye out for him and intend to arrest him as soon as possible.
