An Indian builder impaled by a 4ft pole through his scrotum - which emerged near his neck - has been saved by doctors.

Salim Sheikh, 33, was working on the first floor of a new building when he slipped and fell on a pile of steel rods.

One pierced him through the groin - and then went through the entire length of his body and emerged at his collar bone.

Scans revealed the rod had pierced his small intestine, colon, liver, diaphragm and lungs - but incredibly he survived.

Surgeons removed the pole, which measured 130cm and narrowly missed his heart, during a painstaking five-hour operation.

After just two days in intensive care he was discharged to the general ward, where he is expected to make a full recovery.

Salim Sheikh, 33, was working on the first floor of a new building when he slipped and fell on a pile of steel rods

Surgeons were forced to carry out immediate surgery after his vitals plummeted, which they believed was because of his internal bleeding

Local reports state he is now on the general ward and the hospital have said his condition is 'satisfactory'

Dr Ajay Bhandarwar, who was part of the team who operated on Mr Sheikh, said: 'The patient was able to survive the accident as it narrowly missed the major vessels.

'We gained access to the abdomen but in order to ensure safe retrieval of the rod and to avoid concomitant injuries to the surrounding vital organs during retrieval, the procedure was converted to an open laparotomy.

'They managed to control bleeding from the liver and the mesentery after which they repaired the damage to abdominal vital organs.

'The patient was fortunate enough to have avoided injury to important structures in abdomen like urinary bladder, kidney and inferior vena cava, and the superior vena cava in the chest.'

Mr Sheikh reportedly fell around 9ft (2.7m) from the first floor at a site in Nashik in the west Indian state of Maharashtra last week.

Fellow construction workers heard his cries and cut the rod at its base using a steel cutter and rushed him to the nearby Niphad public health centre.

One pierced him through the groin - and then went through the entire length of his body and emerged at his collar bone

Scans revealed the rod had pierced his small intestine, colon, liver, diaphragm and lung - but incredibly he survived

After giving him preliminary treatment, they referred Mr Sheikh to the city's civil hospital where he was resuscitated and stabilised.

The hospital then sent him to Mumbai's Government-run JJ Hospital for further treatment.

He travelled the 102 miles (165km) by road with the rod still inside his body, arriving at 2am the next day.

Even the most experienced members of the emergency team were taken aback by the nature of his injury.

Surgeons were forced to carry out immediate surgery after his vitals plummeted, which they believed was because of his internal bleeding.

Local reports state he is now on the general ward and the hospital have said his condition is 'satisfactory'.

Surgeons removed the pole, which measured 130cm and narrowly missed his heart, during a painstaking five-hour operation