Whatever he was drinking must have been strong stuff!

Talk about the perils of drinking on the job!

It seems that Yuri Lyalin got drunk at the factory in Vologda, Russia, where he works as an electrician. So did a security guard. During an inebriated argument, the guard stabbed Yuri in the back with a six-inch blade, which remained sticking out of the wound.

Yuri didn't even notice.

He collapsed in a drunken stupor at the factory, remaining there overnight. Next morning he tried to resume work - still not noticing the knife in his back - but was sent home by his boss as he was still under the influence.

He got home and collapsed into bed to sleep it off. Only when his wife woke him, hours later, did he notice that his back hurt . . . and discover the knife embedded there.

The knife "went into soft tissue and by pure luck did not touch any vital organs," a doctor who treated Lyalin, Victor Belov, was quoted by Komsomolskaya Pravda as saying.

Lyalin was philosophical after the event.

"We got drunk together. Things happen when you drink," he said.

You can say that again, Yuri! Whatever that stuff was that you were drinking should be sold to hospitals as a general anesthetic!

Peter