A man is lucky to be alive, doctors said, after he accidentally impaled himself on pruning shears.

University Medical Centre said today that Leroy Luetscher, 86, of Green Valley, Arizona, was working in his garden on July 30 when he dropped a pair of pruning shears, which landed point-side down in the ground.

When Luetscher went to pick them up, he lost his balance and fell face down on the handle. The handle penetrated his eye socket and went down into his neck, resting on the external carotid artery. Half the shears were left in his head, while the other half was sticking out.

Luetscher was taken to the hospital, where surgeons removed the shears and rebuilt his orbital floor with metal mesh, saving his eye.

Doctors say Luetscher still has slight swelling in his eyelids and minor double vision but has otherwise recovered.