Feilding boy Ryan Blackley, 14, fell on a wooden stake which went through his face from below his eye to his chin. Mum Donna watches him recovering at Palmerston North hospital after surgery to remove stake.

Mere millimetres separated 14-year-old Ryan Blackley's eye from a 15-centimetre shard of wood that speared his face when he took a tumble off his scooter.

Ryan, a year 10 student at Feilding High School, was scootering down Aorangi St, Feilding, about 4.30pm on Tuesday when his front wheel hit some garden debris, which had spilled on to the footpath.

* Warning: The image at the bottom of this story may disturb

His scooter veered to the side and he was tipped off.

Ryan said as he fell he pushed his scooter out of the way and put his hands out to break his fall. He felt his head collide with a piece of wood edging the garden.

Ryan said at first he was just shocked and did not register the pain.

He pulled out a piece of wood that had pierced the skin on his forehead and then went to pull out the second, just below his eye. He said as he started pulling he suddenly felt the pain.

"I thought it had gone into my eye."

He said he handed his cellphone to his friend and told him to call an ambulance.

Ryan said he was trying to stay calm but his muscles were "spazzing out" and he could not get his arms to work properly.

The rest was a bit of a blur as people rushed around to help him, Ryan said.

"I could feel the blood dripping down my face and when I opened my eye I could see the top of the wood."

Ryan was taken to Palmerston North Hospital by ambulance.

Ryan's mum Donna Blackley said she was only told he had a splinter in his face, so when she arrived at the hospital and was not immediately allowed to see him she started to panic.

"Before I went in they asked me if I was squeamish and told me to take some deep breaths. I just said 'let me see my son'."

She said it did not bear thinking about what would have happened if the wood had entered a few millimetres higher. Everybody had just kept telling them how lucky he was.

"He was so close to losing his eye."

Ryan had surgery on Tuesday night to remove the wood. Because of its position, effectively forcing the muscles of his jaw shut, Ryan could not open his mouth to have a breathing tube inserted. Instead it had to be inserted through his nose, which Ryan said was not a pleasant experience.

The shard was pulled out through the opening by his eye. The wound was flushed out to prevent infection and sewn shut at the bottom to allow fluid to come out the top.

Ryan is still in hospital and will be released when he no longer needs intravenous antibiotics. He said he was looking forward to going home, as it had all been overwhelming.

BAD INJURY: 14-year-old Feilding High School student Ryan Blackley was scootering along Aorangi St in Feilding when his scooter hit some debris and he faceplanted into a wooden pole edging a grass area. A large spinter went into his face.