Marlin Beak Pierces Skull Base: A Rare Cranial Injury and Recovery
A 31-year-old Louisiana man was struck by a white marlin’s bill during a fishing trip, which penetrated his mouth and pierced into the spinal canal at the foramen magnum. CT revealed a wedge-shaped object; surgeons removed a 3.5 cm fragment of the fish bill, and after eight days in hospital plus antibiotics, he fully recovered with no neurological deficits. The case is notable as the first reported foramen magnum injury caused by a fish bill and adds to the historical record of cranial penetrating injuries.