Last updated at 16:59 25 November 2007

Manish Rajpurohit has been hailed the luckiest teenager in India after he survived being skewered by a metal pole in a bus crash.

The 18-year-old student was riding a bus in Andhra Pradesh state when it was hit by a lorry.

The force of the smash rammed the four foot safety rail into Rajpurohit's forehead and through his skull - only missing his spine by a few millimetres.

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Rajpurohit said: "It struck my head and embedded me into the seat. I was stuck there crying 'Help me' as loud as I could."

Brave Rajpurohit had to slide his head up the pole before he could be cut free from the wreckage, but still could not remove the object.

After an hour's painful journey on a rickshaw to the nearest hospital, Rajpurohit was told by doctors there was nothing they could do.

Finally, after a further three hour ambulance ride to Bangalore, Rajpurohit underwent an emergency operation to remove the pole from his head.

Bangalore surgeon Dr Sharan Patil said: "The first thing he said to me was 'Get this bloody thing out of my head'. It's remarkable. It missed every vital part of his brain."