A horse that had a 3-foot-long tree branch pierce his side in January is still fighting infection in his chest and had another brush with death last week.

Amigo, a 10-year-old Arabian endurance horse, was almost euthanized last Tuesday when his lungs collapsed during surgery, according to his owner, Gary Sanderson.

Veterinarians at the University of Tennessee Equine Hospital had put the horse under anesthesia in order to perform a rib resection to drain an abscess in his chest. After Amigo’s lungs collapsed, the team was able to stabilize him, but was unsuccessful in treating the abscess.

"I was crying, I thought I was going to have to euthanize him," said Sanderson. However, Amigo pulled through and by Thursday was outside grazing in a small paddock. The same day, veterinarians were able to reach the abscess and flush most of it, said Sanderson