Surgeons Save Driver Impaled by 2-Foot Pipe

Surgeons successfully removed a two-foot steel pipe from the chest of a Lake View Terrace man impaled during an accident early Friday morning when the car he was driving crashed into a chain link fence on a Pacoima street.

Nabor Galvan, 23, was in serious condition at Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills after surgery to remove the pipe, which had pierced his upper chest near his left shoulder after crashing through the windshield of his car, said hospital spokeswoman Christine Karlsen.

Galvan was traveling east on Osborne Street and had turned onto Foothill Boulevard about 1:30 a.m. when he lost control of his 1976 Chevy Malibu, witnesses told Los Angeles Police Detective Don Bellante.

A passenger in Galvan’s car said he was trying to flee a car that chased him, but another witness said the two cars were racing, Bellante said.

“In trying to flee, he made the turn, turned too widely and lost control,” colliding with a four-foot fence along a bridle path, Bellante said.

The top rail of the fence dislodged and smashed through the windshield. The pipe, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter, became wedged in the steering wheel and pinned Galvan to the seat of his car, Bellante said.

“He was just real lucky to survive this,” he said. The passenger in Galvan’s car was unharmed.