A seemingly mentally-ill man who stabbed himself in the skull with an 8-inch knife in an attempt to ‘help him breathe better’ has been successfully operated on. The blade is said to have gone between the two halves of his brain.

Doctors said it was a miracle that Yury Zhokhov, 41, of Russia’s Rostov Region, is still alive. He was “fully conscious” when police arrived at the scene, who immediately asked who had attacked him.

Incredibly, the Russian said that he inserted the knife himself. “My brain is not breathing, that’s why the blade stuck in my head,” he told the officers, who were puzzled, to say the least.

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He was then rushed to the hospital, where specialists were called in to operate.

The surgery was successful, with Zhokhov’s condition being described as “satisfactory, in line with the severity of the surgery.”

He is expected to remain in intensive care for one week, and then be referred to a psychiatric facility.

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