Doctors who removed a 4-inch (10-cm) nail from a Colorado construction worker’s skull have left him with huge headache - a $100,000 hospital bill.

Patrick Lawler, 23, who was recovering on Tuesday from surgery to remove the nail, said he had no health insurance and would have to find a way to pay the whopping bill after he is released from the hospital this week.

Lawler walked around with the nail in his skull for six days before seeking medical attention after accidentally shooting himself with a nail gun on a construction site.

He said he did not realize the pain in his mouth and blurred vision were the result of a nail in his head.

“We just thought it was like a big contusion or a punch,” he told reporters.

Asked what was going through his mind as he sat in a press conference contemplating the nail, Lawler replied: “a new career.”