She felt a burning sensation in her face and when she raised her hand to it there was blood. Soon after, she lost consciousness.When Flores woke up in Culiacán General Hospital she thought a stone or rock must have been lodged in her face.
"The doctor asked me what happened. I told him that I thought a stone hit me,” the mother-of-three said. "Then they started to look and discovered that it was some kind of projectile, but they didn't know what it was."
The X-ray and the tomography showed a strange object stuck between the superior and inferior jawbones.Then they realized—it wasn't a stone, it was a live grenade.The hospital was put on alert because the deadly explosive could go off at any moment and kill everyone within 32 feet.
Barely able to breathe, Flores was isolated and the hospital's patients and staff evacuated.
Most of the doctors didn't want to operate and hospital head, Dr. Gaxiola Meza, asked for volunteers.
Four brave people came forward. Along with two explosive experts from the Mexican army, they took Flores to an open field to operate—in case they made a mistake, nobody else would die.
Only under local anesthesia, Flores was given a tracheotomy so she could breathe and four hours later was recovering.The device was extracted from her head by a doctor wearing no armor and guided by military experts. Flores lost half her teeth and has some scaring but said she is happy to be alive.
