Leave it in.
I think you are exactly correct.
Saw a person at a car wreck, impaled through the abdomen by a 2 inch galvanized bridge sidewalk guardrail. Freak accident, went through the grill, through the firewall, right out the air conditioner vent and through the passenger... impaling them to the seat.
Paramedics cut the pipe with a saw about 18 inches on either side of it’s entry and exit. Put them on the stretcher and into the ambulance that way to go to the ER.
The person lived.