Doctors in China examined a patient complaining of headaches and a bad taste in his mouth - and found a 4ins blade buried in his face.
They say it had been in Li Fu's face for four years without his knowledge, since he was stabbed in a robbery while working as a cab driver.
Doctor Xu Wen, vice-director of stomatology at Yu Xi City People's Hospital, said: "We were amazed to see such a long blade in his face.
"And it's even more amazing to think that the blade had been there for more than four years and the patient was still living without too many problems."
He is now recovering after surgeons removed the blade, which had penetrated his tongue root, muscles and brain, in a complicated four hour operation.
Li, 37, of Yuanjiang County, Yunnan Province, was stabbed in September, 2006, after he resisted a knifepoint robbery.
He was treated at a local hospital where doctors cleaned his wound and gave him disinfectant shots.
"The wound healed up gradually and I didn't have any other symptoms, so I didn't think of having further checkups," sa