Navel Stud Nearly Kills Teen in Crash

A teenage girl is warning of the perils of body jewellery after a belly button stud almost pierced through to her spine in a car crash.

A series of unlikely coincidences conspired to save the life of Jessica Collins, 19, when the stud tore through her stomach.

The art student, from Radyr, Cardiff, south Wales, was in a potentially fatal car crash in Munich, Germany, last week.

When it happened, her seatbelt was so violently projected into her stomach that it forced her metal navel stud almost through to her spine.

Surgeons, who fought successfully to save her life, later compared her serious internal injuries to a bullet wound.

But her family gave thanks to fate today as they revealed that life-saving luck was definitely on her side.

A surgeon happened to be in the car behind the one in which the student was travelling.

Despite the freak nature of her injuries, he understood the seriousness of the situation and immediately called for an air ambulance.

Before it arrived, an ambulance minutes away on the same road arrived on the scene carrying life-saving equipment.

As a result, the student was stabilised before being flown to hospital and was on an operating table within an hour.

Her family flew out to her bedside last week and mother Amanda Beadle remains at her daughter's side as she recovers from surgery.

Stepfather Chris Beadle, who is now back in the UK, said: ``Fate would have it that there was a paramedic in the car behind and an ambulance already following along the road.

``Even then, had they not been there, I would say that Jess would not be with us now.

``But it was a very close call. She was being operated on within the hour but it was a three-hour operation.

``The surgeons said that they had never seen anything like it before - they compared her injuries to a gunshot wound.

``The stud had gone through several layers of intestine almost to the spine.

``When she got out of surgery, she was on life support for 24 hours.''

He said she is now advising friends and anyone with a navel stud to remove it because of the potential dangers.

``She got the stud just before her 16th birthday and the worst you imagine that can happen is some sort of infection.

``To be honest, she has been in a nasty car crash but if it had not been for her belly button stud, she would have been out of hospital in 48 hours.

``You never dream anything like this could happen. She is eating now but it is only a kind of baby food mix at the moment.

``She is having her stitches out tomorrow and there is a slim chance she could fly home on Friday.

``But this has put her health back months. I don't know when she will be eating properly again.''