The thought of going under the knife can send shivers down anyone’s spine, but throughout history a handful of daring individuals proved that, when necessity strikes, you can become your own surgeon. Here are 10 people who performed surgeries on themselves and survived, each story more astonishing than the last.
10 people who – Jan De Doot (Open Cystolithotomy) – Rank 10
In the summer of 1651, Dutch blacksmith Jan de Doot took matters into his own hands, literally, by performing an open cystolithotomy to extract a massive bladder stone that had been tormenting him for years.
He had already endured two earlier stone‑cutting procedures performed by local stonecutters, each a nightmare of excruciating pain. Determined not to subject himself to another such ordeal, he resolved to remove the stone himself.
De Doot sent his wife to the market, summoned his brother, and used his brother’s grip on his scrotum to make an incision down to the bladder. The opening was initially too small, so he squatted repeatedly to enlarge it before finally extracting the stone with two fingers.
The stone was the size of a hen’s egg; proud of his triumph, Jan kept it as a trophy, even having it painted gold. In 1655 he commissioned a portrait by Carel van Savoyen, now displayed at Leiden University’s Laboratory of Pathology.
10 people who – Ines Ramirez Perez (Caesarean Section) – Rank 9
In March 2000, alone at home in Oaxaca with her children, Inés Ramirez Perez felt the familiar pangs of labor that had once cost her a baby when she couldn’t reach a hospital in time.
Determined not to lose another child, she instructed one of her kids to fetch a 15‑centimetre kitchen knife, downed three small glasses of liquor, and then sliced an 18‑centimetre opening in her abdomen, spilling her organs onto the floor before pulling the newborn out, all without any anesthesia.
After cutting the umbilical cord, she slipped the organs back into place, sent her son to find a man to stitch the wound, and eventually was taken to a clinic and then a hospital, returning home five days later with her baby in her arms.
10 people who – Aron Ralston (Amputation) – Rank 8
In 2003, while rappelling through Utah’s Slot Canyon, Aron Ralston slipped, dislodging a boulder that slammed his right arm against the rock, pinning it and quickly turning the limb numb and necrotic.
After five and a half days of isolation and futile attempts to chip away at the stone with his multi‑tool, Ralston realized rescue was impossible and resorted to a brutal self‑amputation: he leveraged his body weight to break the bones, then used the tool to slice tendons, flesh, and tissue, finally freeing the arm.
He photographed the severed forearm lodged in the canyon, descended, and was later rescued; his harrowing ordeal inspired the film 127 Hours, cementing his place in survival lore.
10 people who – Zheng Yanliang (Amputation) – Rank 7
In April 2012, Chinese farmer Zheng Yanliang faced a gangrenous, maggot‑infested right leg that doctors refused to treat without a price tag of 300,000 yuan for a single‑leg amputation—and over a million for both.
With only 20,000 yuan to his name, Zheng watched the infection progress for three months until the leg’s flesh turned black and the bone was exposed, leaving him with no choice but to act.
Armed with a saw and a knife, he spent twenty agonizing minutes sawing off the limb, biting a towel‑wrapped stick to endure the pain, and later received donations from sympathetic citizens to have his other leg amputated.
10 people who – Amanda Feilding (Trepanation) – Rank 6
Trepanation—drilling a hole in the skull—has been practiced for millennia, originally to relieve head injuries, cure madness, or let evil spirits escape, and today to stop internal bleeding.
In the early 1980s, British advocate Amanda Feilding sought professional help to perform the procedure herself, but after surgeons balked or withdrew, she took matters into her own hands, using a dentist’s drill under light anesthesia to bore a hole in her cranium.
She emerged hours later, wrapped a scarf around the fresh wound, and attended a party, later claiming the operation improved her wellbeing; she continued to champion trepanation, even running for Parliament in 1983 with the slogan ‘Vote Feilding—Trepanation for the National Health.’
10 people who – Leonid Rogozov (Appendectomy) – Rank 5
In the Antarctic winter of 1961, 27‑year‑old Soviet physician Leonid Rogozov woke with acute appendicitis while stationed at a remote research base, isolated by ice and far from any hospital.
With no other medical personnel on site, Rogozov administered local anesthesia to his abdominal wall, instructed his colleagues on each step, and, despite the searing pain and two hours of blood loss, performed the appendectomy on himself, staying conscious throughout.
The daring feat became Soviet propaganda fodder, especially since it followed Yuri Gagarin’s historic spaceflight; Rogozov earned the Order of the Red Banner of Labor and returned to work just two weeks later.
10 people who – Deborah Sampson (Self‑Appendage Surgery) – Rank 4
During the American Revolutionary War, Deborah Sampson disguised herself as a man, adopting the alias Robert Shirtliff, to enlist in the Continental Army, becoming one of the earliest known female soldiers.
After a musket ball lodged in her leg, she faced surgery; fearing exposure of her true gender, Sampson performed the operation herself, a crude but successful procedure that left permanent damage.
Her secret eventually unraveled, leading to an unhonorable discharge and denial of a pension for years, until after extensive public speaking she finally received a pension in 1816.
10 people who – Roland Mery (Sex Reassignment Surgery) – Rank 3
In 2009, 61‑year‑old Roland Mery of the UK grew so desperate for gender‑affirming surgery that, after being told to wait two years, he took painkillers, retreated to his bathroom, and fashioned makeshift tools to remove his own genitals.
He shouted to his wife, “Ring 999, Julie, I’ve done it!” and was soon whisked away by an ambulance to Royal Gwent Hospital, where a doctor praised his handiwork, though authorities mistakenly treated his wife as a suspect.
10 people who – Viktor Yazykov (Abscess Drainage) – Rank 2
In 1998, Russian sailor Viktor Yazykov was midway through the grueling nine‑month Around Alone race when a painful elbow injury blossomed into a dangerous abscess, threatening to burst beneath his skin.
Communicating via email with Dr Daniel Carlin in Boston, Viktor received step‑by‑step instructions to drain the abscess himself; with his solar‑powered computer dead after sunset, he forged ahead that night, cutting into his elbow with a scalpel.
The procedure caused two hours of heavy bleeding, soaking the cabin floor, and left his hand cold and rubber‑like, but he pressed on, later taking red wine, chocolate, and aspirin before passing out.
After contacting Dr Carlin the next morning, he completed his leg of the race, stopped in South Africa for two weeks, and then continued, this time ensuring a reliable power source for future emergencies.
10 people who – Dr. Evan O’Neill Kane (Appendectomy) – Rank 1
On February 15 1921, chief surgeon Dr. Evan O’Neill Kane found himself on the operating table awaiting an appendectomy, only to decide to perform the procedure on himself rather than wait for another surgeon.
He instructed the staff to step back, propped himself up with pillows, injected local anesthetic, and, using mirrors for visibility, sliced into his own abdomen, completing the removal of the inflamed appendix in just thirty minutes.
Kane later explained that the self‑surgery was meant to deepen his understanding of anesthesia and patient experience; eleven years on, he attempted a self‑performed hernia repair, which led to pneumonia and his death three months later.