Woman Has Pencil Removed From Brain After 55 Years

A German woman had a pencil removed from her brain after living with it for 55 years. Margret Wegner fell down while holding a pencil when she was four years old, jamming it into her brain and leading to a lifetime of headaches and nosebleeds. Surgeons finally removed most of the writing implement, but the pencil proved mightier than the scalpel—the tip was too tightly lodged to dislodge.

Wegner now hopes that she will regain her lost sense of smell. The operation went smoothly, but could have been life-threatening. "I was afraid I hadn't sorted out all my affairs. I wrote letters to my relatives," wrote Wegner of the night before her operation. (More Margret Wegner stories.)