A woman in her 80s has been airlifted to a Brisbane hospital with a metal stake impaled in her neck after a bizarre gardening accident.
Doctors could not initially remove the 1.5m metal bar after paramedics rushed her to the Hervey Bay hospital from an Eli Waters property north of Brisbane late on Tuesday.
However, they were able to cut it down to 15cm before the elderly woman was airlifted to Brisbane for further treatment.
The Queensland Ambulance Service told AAP the woman had suffered the penetrating neck injury while gardening.
"The metal garden stake was about 150cm long and sticking out of her neck until the hospital medical team cut it back to about 15cm to make it easier to manage her treatment and transfer," RACQ LifeFlight's Scott Reeman said.
The rescue helicopter took the woman to the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital in a stable condition on Tuesday night.