Man had bullet in heart for 40 years

A man shot in the heart by US troops during the Vietnam war has had the bullet removed - after 40 years.

Le Dinh Hung, 60, said from his bed in the Hanoi Heart Hospital: "I feel much better now. The chest pain has eased."

When he was shot in 1968, the bullet tore through his stomach, hit his cardiac valve and lodged at the back of his heart.

Surgeons carried out a three hour operation to finally remove it after he went to hospital complaining of unbearable chest pains.

Dr Nguyen Sinh Hien, who also replaced his damaged heart valve with an artificial one, said: "It is the strangest case that I have ever seen.

"Normally a person with a bullet in the heart would die immediately if they didn't have surgery right away."

Despite being in constant pain, Hung, whose home is in the Ha Tay province, went on to work at a medical school and had three children with his wife.

hole in the heart

Medical miracle ... 40 yrs, long time to have a heartache.

wow, lucky guy.

he's sure got a heart! a truly miracle!

What a tough guy.

He's tough, even though he fought for communism.