Schoolboy archer survives after friend shoots an arrow through his eye

A schoolboy archer cheated death after he was shot through the eye by a friend.

The arrow went through 11-year-old Liu Cheong's eye socket, completely through his head and was only stopped by the back of his skull.

He only survived because the arrow had miraculously missed his brain.

Stricken: Liu Cheong can be seen lying on a hospital bed after the arrow went straight through his eye socket

Surgeons spent four hours removing the 16in arrow which had sunk more than four inches into the boy's head. They had to break off part of it just to get him in the CT scanner.

The teammate who shot him - a 13-year-old girl called Yan Shin - is being treated for shock.

Teachers at Jiutai City school in China said they believed the youngsters were practicing on their own when the accident happened.

Escape: The 16inch arrow had sunk more than four inches into Liu's head

'If the arrow had been shot with just a bit more force, it would have come out the back of his head,' doctors at Jida Hospital in Changchun, eastern China said.

After brain scans and x-rays, doctors began to cut away parts of his skull to remove the arrow without damaging optic nerves or brain tissue.

His parents have been warned he still faces a risk of infection and may need further operations.

'It is a miracle he survived the accident,' said one medic.