Michael Hill (stabbing survivor)

Michael Hill is notable for having survived being stabbed in the brain with a 20 cm (8 in) survival knife, on April 25, 1998.

While at a friend's residence in Jacksonville, Florida, Hill answered the door and an unknown person stabbed him in the skull. He then walked down the street to another friend's house. Four hours later the knife was removed. Hill survived without even an infection and within seven days regained consciousness and all functions, although the knife had caused permanent damage to his memory and paralyzed his left hand. He now has occasional headaches and needs medication to prevent seizures.

The knife was the largest object ever removed from a human skull. It had plunged very deep into his skull, near the brain stem.

Hill later said: “I didn’t feel the pain initially and it was only when I was at the hospital that it hit me and I felt like my eyes were bulging out. I know people in worse shape than me now and so I consider myself lucky.”