@EvoWarrior5:
Wow, how did I even miss that.
Okay thanks!
(still too bad a reason for his survival was never given though, but now at least it wasnt completely ignored till 300 chapters later)
I've always imagined (emphasis on my imagination) that he flew high enough that he was able to let go at the last available moment and fly some -though short- distance from the bomb so the blast threw him some distance as it did do damage to him - that pic showed him with scars on his chest so he was greatly injured.
But now that we've seen super-human endurance (Luffy, Zoro & even Usopp have survived injuries that should have killed a human in no time) and haki, I suspect its one of those things that saved him. Pell and Chaka are said to be the topmost fighters of Arabastra -defenders of the Royal family. We know that was some magic/special waters involved with some other guards (those 4 that faced Crocodile drank the ?hero? water to boost their strenght for a limited time) and whent he blast happened, a falcon statue seemed to break. It could be coincidence or it could be that the top 2 royal guards have a mysitical protection.
So - gret timed realeace (very low chances), or superhuman endurance, haki, magical protector of the land…. feh all of them sounds implausible but as unpredictable as Oda is, any of them could be it.