RIO DE JANEIRO (AFP) - A Brazilian motorcycle taxi driver with a knife protruding from his head had to endure a two-hour drive to the nearest hospital to have it removed, media reported Tuesday.

Friends drove Juacelo Nunes, 39, to the hospital after he was stabbed with the 30cm blade at a party, the knife narrowly missing his left eye and passing through his mouth into the right side of his jaw, web news portal G1 reported.

"The knife passed through several nerves and veins, structures that can quickly kill a patient" doctor Gilberto Albuquerque said, adding Nunes was recovering surprisingly well and had remained conscious throughout his ordeal.

The assault occurred at Agua Branca, some 100km from the hospital in Teresina in northeastern Piaui state.

Nunes also suffered two knife wounds to his throat and one to the shoulder after he became embroiled in an argument.

Hotel spokeswoman Ana Flavia Soares said Nunes would need to remain hospitalised for two or three days as one of the knife wounds had damaged a lung.