>>>
a florida teenager is lucky to be alive today. he was recently on a
spear fishing
trip with a friend when he was shot through the head by a 3-foot
spear
. we'll speak with him exclusively in just a moment, but first, the latest from nbc's
kerry sanders
.
>>
here, over there, leads to the rock where i was fishing.
>> reporter:
16-year-old
yasser
lopez
visits the lake where he nearly lost his life.
>>
i was almost dead in this water. for a simple fishing trip.
>> reporter:
he was
spear fishing
with a friend using a 3-foot, gas-powered speargun, when somehow, the gun went off, striking
lopez
in the head. his friend called 911.
>>
the speargun just went through my friend's head. we're on a lake, a lake. please come.
>> reporter:
lopez
was rushed to the hospital, the
spear
through the skull.
>>
it went front to back. that's mighty unusual. i've never seen that, exactly that combination.
>> reporter:
doctors say a series of miracles helped
lopez
survive. the
spear
missed important blood vessels and vital structures of the brain. in a delicate surgery that lasted more than four hours, they were able to remove the
spear
from the teenager's head.
>>
okay, grab the bar.
>> reporter:
now,
lopez
faces months of therapy. the accident left him with partial paralysis on the left side of his body.
>>
right there, like that.
>> reporter:
and memories of what happened are now slowly starting to come back.
>>
i remember being in the ambulance when they picked me up. i was telling them, take the
spear
out, feel it inside the head, so i wanted them to take it out.
>> reporter:
doctors say if he had pulled the
spear
out, he would have died, but that didn't happen, thanks to the kindness of a stranger.
>>
right here. half of his body was in the water.
>> reporter:
astrid cardoza was near the lake that day. she heard yelling and ran over to help, telling
lopez
not to pull on the
spear
.
>>
i just hold his hand and i said, you can. and he told me, please, don't let me die. and i says, you're not going to die.
>> reporter:
lopez
and his family were overcome with emotion during a reunion with cardoza at the accident scene.
>>
oh, my god, he looks terrific!
>> reporter:
lopez
knows the road to recovery is going to be tough, but he's not giving up. he says he may even go fishing again some day.
>>
if i do ever
spear
fish again, very safely and with a grown-up near me.
>> reporter:
for "today,"
kerry sanders
, nbc news, miami.
>>
yasser
lopez
and his mother are here for an exclusive interview. good morning to both of you.
>>
good morning.
>>
you're making progress and you're feeling good?
>>
mm-hmm.
>>
i understand from kerry's piece, slowly the memories are coming back from what happened that day? what do you remember?
>>
i remember holding a fish that my friend had caught, then following it to the water, then just seeing the
spear
in my head.
>>
you could see it in your head.
>>
yeah, i could see it. i could see it.
>>
that
spear
through your head. did you realize what had happened?
>>
no.
>>
you get the
phone call
from your husband that your only son, your only child was in this terrible accident.
>>
we got to the hospital. there we found
yasser
with the speargun in his head. oh, my god, i am so --
>>
how did you keep standing? i can't imagine you didn't collapse.
>>
i thought my son is going to die, mm-hmm.
>>
and doctors told you to still talk to him, even though he was unconscious.
>>
yeah. the doctor said you can tell something, he can hear you. i said to him here,
yasser
, mama and daddy are here, everything is going to be okay. that said, we are very frustrated with that.
>>
when you look at him now and he's making progress with
physical therapy
, he's smiling, you probably didn't think you would get to this point. you thought you would lose him.
>>
it's incredible.
>>
it's incredible.
>>
it's incredible, yeah.
>>
yasser
, do you feel like you're a miracle walking?
>>
yes.
>>
and i imagine around the neighborhood, everyone wants to talk with you about how you survived this. you're one tough man, young man. do you feel that way?
>>
mm-hmm.
>>
we're very happy to see you, and i know you're going to get better every day. thank you.
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