An angler is recovering after a lead weight was left embedded in his face after a freak fishing accident. Darren Williams, 34, from Wrexham, north Wales, had to undergo a five-hour operation to remove the lump of lead, which shattered his cheek bone after flying into his face through his eye socket.
Mr Williams was on a fishing trip with friends at Llyn y Gors lake, near Llandegfan, in Anglesey, when the accident happened on Saturday.
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It is thought his line had snagged, and when he flicked it to release it, the fishing line suddenly broke free and the weight shot out of the water and into his face.
A spokesman for Llyn y Gors lake said: One of our guys was working in the shop when someone ran in and said someone had got a hook through his eye.
His friends brought him up to the shop, the lead had gone right into his face but he remained really calm.
The tip of the weight was sticking out of his face and it looked as though he had lost his eye, his face was really swollen up.
Mr Williams, a machine operator, told the Daily Post newspaper: I didnt see it coming at all, I just felt it.
I was doubled over. I put my hand to my face and there was blood. I couldnt feel the line going in.
To be honest I thought it had hit me and bounced out.
Surgeons removed the lead weight during a five-hour operation at Glan Clwyd hospital and re-built his shattered cheekbone with a metal plate.
Mr Williams returned home two days later. He said that despite the accident he will carry on fishing.