Imagine partying with your friends for four days while also being completely unaware that the entire time you had a bullet lodged in your head. University student Mateus Facio required an emergency operation after doctors made the astonishing discovery that he had bullet fragments in his brain.

According to Indy100, Facio, who initially went to the hospital after experiencing some unexplained arm spasms, had been shot on New Year’s Eve, however, the 21-year-old simply thought he had been hit in the head with a rock.

Seemingly oblivious to the seriousness of his injury, Facio carried on with his life as normal—swimming with his friends in the sea, partying, and visiting the beach.

It was days later, after travelling 200 miles from Rio de Janeiro to Juiz de Fora on a road trip, that the Brazilian student finally realised something might be very wrong.

The neurosurgeon who treated Facio, Flavio Falcometa, explained why the young man would have been getting arm spasms from the gunshot: “Part of the bullet penetrated his brain which caused compression in that area and led to his arm’s involuntary movements. If it had ended up a few millimetres from where it did, it could have caused much more serious damage and left his arm or one side of his body paralysed.”

“It was very risky for the patient but we believe that in 20 to 30 days he will be able to continue with his normal life,” Falcometa continued.

An investigation has been launched to try and get to the bottom of who shot Facio in the first place on 31 December 2023.

Speaking about the miraculous incident, Facio’s mother stated: “It’s inexplicable how someone can have a bullet lodged in their head for four days and survive. I feel like my son has been born again.”