An N.C. Highway Patrol trooper said he was shocked Friday morning when he arrived to the scene of a wreck and found a car pierced by a guardrail.

Even more surprising? Driver Robert Kontos, 62, was out of the vehicle and walking around with only minor injuries at the time, according to Trooper D.C. Neill.

“He was not ejected and he walked away from it,” Neill said. “I don’t know how to describe it other than lucky I guess.”

Kontos, of Statesville, was looking for something in his car around 8:20 a.m. when his GT500 Mustang veered left of center, Neill said. He was traveling east on Highway 70 east of Stamey Farm Road south of Statesville at the time.

Kontos overcorrected, causing his car to spin, Neill said. He struck the guardrail and then continued down an embankment.

During the wreck, part of the guardrail detached from the road and impaled the cab of the car, directly through both the driver and passenger seats and through both doors.

Kontos was inside the car at the time, but the railing didn’t hit him.

Initial reports that Kontos was ejected from the vehicle were incorrect, Neill said.