The 44-year-old patient, Kalinina Oxana, also suffered fromsevere neck and spinal cord injuries, and underwent surgery lasting overseven hours at the local General Hospital.
With the assistanceof marine experts from the Nha Trang Institute of Oceanography, thedoctors found over 20 shards of teeth from the fish embedded in herskin.
The patient recovered quite well and she is able to move her legs and arms.
She was vacationing in Nha Trang with her husband when the accident occurred on April 13.
Needlefish live in very shallow marine habitats or the surface of thesea and only eat seaweed and plankton. They do not usually attack humansbut can sometimes hurt people accidentally when they are startled, asthey possess long, narrow jaws filled with sharp teeth.
This is the first such case recorded in Nha Trang.-VNA