A North Carolina toddler is a "little miracle" after surviving an unprecedented operation to remove a metal rod accidentally lodged in his brain, doctors have said.

The Charlotte (N. C.) Observer reported on Monday that a neurosurgeon at University of North Carolina Hospital, Chapel Hill, removed an L-shaped part from a pressure washer embedded in 17-month-old Jessiah Jackson's head.

It was reported that a little more than a week ago Jessiah was playing outside on a deck where his grandparents, who are his legal guardians, were remodeling to make a new play area when he climbed onto a chair next to a pressure washer.

The Observer said that the chair fell over, throwing Jessiah backward and piercing a hook on the pressure washer's hose crank through his skull.

Carlton Jones, Jessiah's uncle, said, "I look away for a split second, and he was standing up in that chair, and the chair was going back. I couldn't do anything."

The newspaper further said that both the child's aunt and uncle who were with him are certified nursing assistants and they kept him still until an ambulance arrived. But the local Wilmington hospital told the family the injury was too dangerous for them to treat.

It has further been reported that Jessiah was sedated and medically paralyzed to keep the rod from moving and potentially killing him. He then was airlifted to UNC where neurosurgeon Anand Germanwala performed the 2-hour operation to extract the rod.

Carlton Jones said, "We're calling him the miracle baby." (With Inputs from Agencies)