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A Brazilian medical student partied for days, enjoying New Year’s celebrations near Rio de Janeiro.
Mateus Facio, a 21-year-old in Cabo Frio, was out with friends when he felt something hit him in the head. Initially, Facio thought that the object was a rock.
“I thought it was a stone, a bad joke, that someone picked up and threw a rock, he told Globo 1. “If there was a noise, I could imagine what it could be. But I didn’t hear anything; it was completely normal.”
After a doctor who was with the group helped clean up the wound, Facio did what any 21-year-old would do and continued partying.
Mateus reportedly partied on the beach, swam in the ocean, and drove 200 miles to his hometown before realizing something was wrong. He began having arm spasms and struggled to pick anything up. That’s when he decided it was time to go to the hospital.
Once Facio was in the hospital, doctors revealed he had a 9mm bullet lodged in his head.
Brazilian Student Parties for Four Days with Bullet in Head, Mistaking It for a Rock Injury
Mateus Facio, 21, celebrated New Year's Eve in Cabo Frio with a bullet in his brain, thinking it was a rock. He partied on the beach, swam, and hung out with friends for four days before… pic.twitter.com/OyhxcPMx2d
— Unlimited L's (@unlimited_ls) January 22, 2024
“The bullet was compressing the brain in an area close to the region responsible for the movement of the right arm, causing irritation,” neurosurgeon Flávio Falcometa said. “This led to the brain to respond with movements that manifested as convulsive episodes.”
Facio’s mom, Luciana, was in disbelief.
“The doctors and nurses who saw Mateus could hardly believe it,” she said. “A person spending four days with a bullet in their head and not feeling anything is inexplicable.”
The college student underwent a two-hour operation to remove the bullet.
Luckily, the operation was successful, and it did not cause any damage — which could have included leakage of cerebral fluid, meningitis, and even death. Doctors then sent the bullet back to police in Cabo Frio to see if it could be connected to any shootings on New Year’s.
Talk about an eventful start to the year.
