[bloodrayne]

Hook Impales Heavy Machinery Operator In Head
Victim Listed In Critical Condition

San Antonio, Texas -- An employee of Holt Cat was critically injured Thursday morning after his head was impaled by a hook.

A company spokesman said the worker, a man in his 60s, was working near a backhoe when the metal rod on the bucket of the heavy machinery went through one side of his temple and out the other.

A surgeon was airlifted to the accident scene at 3302 South W.W. White Road, where it took the physician two hours to remove a portion of the rod.

When the victim was airlifted to University Hospital, he was said to be talking even though a portion of the rod was still impaled.

"We're in the process of determining what happened," said Holt Cat spokesman Joe Carreon. "We have contacted his family."

The man's identity was not immediately released and it was not known how long he has worked for the company.