Due to the nature of the injury, Ms Kaur could not lie down properly on an operating table, making the operation extremely difficult. Photo / Getty Images
WARNING: Graphic
If you thought you were having a bad day, spare a thought for Rich Kaur.
The woman woke up in the early hours of the morning needing the loo, but in her half-asleep state had a freak accident with a common kitchen utensil.
As she walked through her kitchen to get to the bathroom in her Mumbai home, she slipped on a stray piece of cutlery, whacking her head on her pressure cooker.
As if that wasn't bad enough, the appliance's lid became lodged deep into her skull. Ouch.
How on earth did this happen you might be currently asking yourself? Well, let us explain.
Ms Kaur kept her cooker on the floor, according to local media reports. While it's not clear exactly why it was stored there — and not on a kitchen counter — when she stumbled, her head hit the appliance's whistle.
The impact on July 23 caused the lid to become lodged in her head, penetrating her brain.
A stomach-churning X-ray shows just how dangerously deep in her head the metal lid became, taking doctors at Mumbai's SION Hospital over two hours to remove.
Due to the nature of the injury, Ms Kaur could not lie down properly on an operating table, making the operation extremely difficult.
Her neurosurgeon Dr Batuk Diyora and his team also struggled to insert tubes down her throat to maintain her breathing.
Doctors did not expect Ms Kaur to survive, but she miraculously pulled through from the surgery.
"The patient is fully conscious, able to talk and out of danger," Dr Diyora told the Mumbai Mirror after the unique procedure.
Her family also spoke out about the bizarre accident, with her daughter Lakhwinder telling the publication the ordeal had been very "scary".
"When she fell, her head hit the lid of a pressure cooker. The whistle on the lid got dislodged and the protruding rod under it poked through her skull," she said.
"All through the way, I saw my mother wince in pain with the lid still lodged in her head. It was scary and I didn't know if any doctor could help her at all."
Ms Kaur — who has cataracts — is now reportedly recovering from her ordeal.
Twice, she nearly walked away from tennis forever. This year, she became world No 1.