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.

When the operating room lights flicker on, most of us expect the steady hands of seasoned surgeons to guide us safely through. Yet, the unsettling reality is that “never events” – catastrophic mistakes that should never happen – still occur, with estimates of up to 80 such incidents each week in the United States, according to the American Medical News. The following 10 unimaginable 038 cases illustrate the most harrowing surgical errors ever recorded, each a stark reminder that even the best‑trained professionals can falter.

10 unimaginable 038: A Lesson in Surgical Oversight

10 A Man’s Worst Nightmare

In November 1999, 67‑year‑old Hurshell Ralls entered the Clinics of North Texas in Wichita Falls for a bladder‑cancer biopsy that confirmed a malignancy. The planned operation involved removing his bladder alone. When Ralls awoke, he discovered, to his absolute horror, that his penis and testicles had also vanished. The surgeons claimed that, during the bladder removal, they believed the cancer had spread to his genitalia, yet they never took tissue samples to verify this suspicion, deeming further testing “not worthwhile.” A Dallas pathologist later examined slides of the removed tissue and determined there was no penile cancer at all. Reconstructive options were impossible because insufficient tissue remained.

Despite the gravity of the mistake, the physicians faced no disciplinary action, and none of their medical licenses were suspended. Ralls pursued legal action against both the doctors and the clinic, ultimately reaching an out‑of‑court settlement for an undisclosed sum. No amount of money could ever replace the organs that were taken without his consent.

9 Wrong Infant

In 2016, newborn Nate Melton was delivered at University Medical Center in Lebanon, Tennessee. After a routine post‑delivery check, a nurse entered the parents’ room and delivered the shocking news: their baby had been mistakenly identified as another child and had undergone an unnecessary frenulectomy – a minor procedure that trims the tissue under the tongue to address tongue‑tie. The operating physician admitted the mix‑up, apologizing and assuring the family that the infant “barely cried” during the surgery. The Meltons announced their intention to sue the hospital once their son received a Social Security number, though the long‑term impact of the unnecessary procedure remains uncertain.

8 Wrong Limb

In 1995, 52‑year‑old Willie King was scheduled for a leg amputation at University Community Hospital in Tampa, Florida. While Dr. Ronaldo R. Sanchez was incising the tissue, a nurse reviewing King’s chart began to sob, prompting the surgeon to realize the catastrophic error: the wrong leg was being prepared for removal. By the time the mistake was recognized, the incorrect limb had already been sterilized and draped, leaving no chance to reverse the procedure.

Dr. Sanchez defended his actions by stating that both of King’s legs appeared diseased and that miscommunication among staff led him to believe he was operating on the correct side. Previously, another patient had claimed Dr. Sanchez removed a toe without consent during a foot‑tissue excision. Ultimately, Sanchez was fined $10,000 and his medical license was suspended for 140 days.

7 Four Years Of Pain

In 2007, 56‑year‑old Carol Critchfield underwent a routine hysterectomy and bladder‑support surgery at Simi Valley Hospital in California. Three days later, she returned with severe abdominal pain. An X‑ray was performed, and physicians dismissed her symptoms as extreme constipation, sending her home. The following year, while at work, she experienced sweating, blurred vision, and fainted, only to be told she suffered a gastrointestinal issue and advised to avoid spicy foods. These dismissals continued for years.

By 2011, Critchfield presented with vaginal bleeding, which doctors attributed to an ovarian cyst. During surgery to remove the ovaries, surgeons discovered a massive mass: a surgical sponge inadvertently left inside her abdomen during the 2007 operation. The sponge had become encased in scar tissue, leading to a four‑year intestinal obstruction that required removal of a large segment of her intestines. She sued Simi Valley Hospital and five physicians, reaching an undisclosed settlement in 2014.

6 Wrong Kidney

In 2013, a 76‑year‑old dialysis patient was taken to Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York for removal of a failing kidney. The surgeon, however, mistakenly excised the healthy kidney instead. Mount Sinai, a prestigious teaching institution, refused to disclose the identities of both the surgeon and the patient, and even barred news crews from filming outside the facility. Hospital officials blamed the mistake on the patient’s having “two bad kidneys,” a claim that did little to soothe the victim.

After the error became public, the surgeon was terminated, though the patient defended him, insisting the operation was otherwise successful. The patient subsequently underwent a corrective surgery to replace the removed kidney with the proper, failing one.

5 Neurosurgery

In 2013, 53‑year‑old Regina Turner was scheduled for a left‑brain craniotomy at St. Clare Health Center in St. Louis, Missouri. The surgeon, Dr. Armond Levy, performed the skull opening on the wrong side of her head. Upon realizing the mistake, Dr. Levy sutured the incision and arranged for the correct operation six days later, but the damage was already done.

Turner emerged with a severe speech impediment and required round‑the‑clock care. She sued both the hospital and Dr. Levy for negligence. The following year, she reached an undisclosed settlement, while Dr. Levy faced no state disciplinary action and continued practicing medicine, despite the grave error.

4 Wrong Patient

On November 20, 1998, 66‑year‑old Adesta L. Hytha went to Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, for a lumpectomy – a modest removal of a tumor and surrounding tissue from her left breast. After the procedure, she awoke to discover her entire left breast had been removed. Dr. Charles E. Cox, head of the breast‑cancer program, claimed he found additional cancer during surgery and felt compelled to perform a full mastectomy.

In reality, Hytha had been mistaken for another patient scheduled for a mastectomy. The truth was concealed from her for ten days, and Dr. Cox denied any wrongdoing. Hospital officials blamed the mix‑up on staff bringing the wrong patient into the OR and on Dr. Cox’s failure to review the chart. Hytha chose not to sue, settling for an undisclosed sum, and declined a hospital offer to reconstruct her breast.

3 Wrong Testicle

Veteran Benjamin Houghton was diagnosed with metastatic testicular cancer in 1989 and underwent chemotherapy, which successfully eliminated the disease. Over time, his left testicle atrophied, causing pain and the risk of cancer recurrence. In June 2006, he elected to have the painful left testicle removed at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center.

During the procedure, the surgeon mistakenly excised the healthy right testicle. Houghton, his wife Monica, and their attorneys sued the VA for $200,000 in future health‑care costs plus undisclosed damages. Losing his functional testicle threatened his hormonal balance, potentially leading to depression, weight gain, fatigue, and osteoporosis due to a sudden drop in testosterone.

2 Wrong Eye

In 2015, one‑year‑old Fernando Jonathan Valdez from Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico, was battling advanced congenital cancer of his left eye. After chemotherapy failed, surgeons removed the diseased left eye. Tragically, the surgeon mistakenly extracted the healthy right eye, leaving the child permanently blind in the remaining eye while the cancer‑ridden left eye stayed in its socket.

The parents reported the mistake to police, prompting an internal investigation at the Medical Unit of High Specialty Mexican Social Security Institute. They hired an attorney, sued the hospital for negligence, and filed complaints with the National Commission of Human Rights and the Medical Arbitration Commission. The responsible surgeon was suspended and investigated, but regardless of the legal outcome, the boy will never regain sight.

1 Wrong Organ

In October 2011, 32‑year‑old Maria De Jesus, who was 21 weeks pregnant with her fourth child, went to Queen’s Hospital near London for an appendectomy. The operation was to be performed by trainee Dr. Yahya Al‑Abed under supervision of Dr. Babatunde Coker. Unfortunately, Dr. Coker was eating lunch and unaware the surgery was underway. During the procedure, De Jesus began bleeding heavily, and Dr. Al‑Abed, mistakenly believing he was removing the appendix, excised her ovary instead.

Three weeks later, still suffering from untreated appendicitis, De Jesus returned in excruciating pain. She underwent another surgery, but the delay proved fatal: she died on the operating table, and her unborn child was stillborn. Both surgeons were found guilty of “serious misconduct,” yet a tribunal later deemed them not a danger to the public, allowing them to continue practicing medicine.

Today more than 48 million surgeries are performed in the United States alone, and the sheer volume makes the operating room feel almost ordinary. With 28 million of those being outpatient procedures—meaning patients stroll out the same day without an overnight stay—the knife has become a familiar tool. Yet beneath that familiar veneer lie stories that are anything but ordinary. In this top 10 bloody tour we’ll peel back the curtain on the shocking, fascinating, and sometimes downright macabre beginnings of the surgeries we now take for granted.

10 Year-Old Boy’s Appendix in 1735

Appendicitis—when the tiny appendix swells, inflames, and fills with pus—affects roughly 8% of the population at some point. If the inflamed organ bursts, bacteria and debris spill into the abdominal cavity, a scenario that, left untreated, almost certainly spells death.

The condition has been noted for millennia. As early as A.D. 130, Galen’s anatomical treatises mentioned a painful abdominal ailment, and physicians continued to reference it for centuries. Yet the appendix itself remained a mystery until the late 1400s, and its link to the painful syndrome was only cemented by German surgeon Lorenz Heister in 1711. For countless generations, that 8% lived (and often died) without ever understanding why they suffered.

Understanding the cause, however, mattered less than finding a cure. In 1735, English surgeon Claudius Amyand performed the world’s first recorded appendectomy on an 11‑year‑old boy whose appendix had been pierced by a swallowed pin. The operation was a landmark, and the boy also turned out to have a rare type of inguinal hernia that would later bear Amyand’s name.

That single case delivered two firsts at once: the inaugural appendectomy and the discovery of the Amyand hernia. It would be another 24 years before surgeons began using the procedure routinely to treat appendicitis. Today, roughly 300,000 appendectomies are carried out each year in the United States, sparing millions from the pain and peril of a ruptured appendix.

9 First Brain Surgery: Trepanation Performed On Our Distant Ancestors

The brain sits beneath a delicate covering called the meninges, which is riddled with blood vessels. When a head injury tears these vessels, blood can pool between the brain and skull, creating a subdural hematoma. Pressure builds, threatening to crush the brain and cause death unless relieved.

Enter the burr hole: a small opening drilled into the skull to let the trapped blood escape—a primitive pressure valve. Though it sounds modern, trepanation dates back 5,000 years. Archaeologists have found that 5‑10% of Neolithic skulls bear evidence of such holes, indicating that ancient peoples performed this life‑saving procedure long before anesthesia or antiseptics existed.

But not all trepanations were medical. In southern Russia, twelve skulls uncovered within a 31‑mile radius all featured burr holes in the exact same spot—the obelion, a region near the back of the skull where a ponytail might sit. None of the skulls showed signs of trauma, suggesting the holes were ritualistic rather than therapeutic.

Anthropologist Elena Batieva posits that these individuals were perfectly healthy when their skulls were pierced, likely as part of a dangerous rite. Several of the skulls never healed, indicating the ritual may have been fatal for some. The true purpose of these ceremonial trepanations remains a mystery, locked away in bone.

8 First Biopsy: A Hollow Needle in A.D. 1000

Although the word “biopsy” was only coined in 1879 by Ernest Besnier, the practice predates the term by centuries. The earliest known biopsy was performed by the renowned court physician Abu al‑Qasim Khalaf ibn al‑Abbas Al‑Zahrawi—also known as Albucasis—who lived between 936 and 1013 A.D. He slipped a long needle into a patient’s thyroid gland, extracting tissue to diagnose a condition he called “Elephant of the throat,” a technique eerily similar to today’s fine‑needle aspiration.

Al‑Zahrawi’s medical manuscripts also catalogued the instruments he used, describing hollow needles that served as precursors to the modern tools employed for biopsies, injections, and blood draws. His detailed illustrations reveal a sophisticated understanding of minimally invasive sampling long before the modern era.

7 First Successful Cesarean: Mother and Child Saved In 1794

For most of history, a cesarean section was a last‑ditch effort performed only when the mother was already dead or dying. The operation almost guaranteed the mother’s death, though it could sometimes rescue the infant. Mythology even reflects this grim reality—Greek legend tells of Asclepius being delivered from his mother’s dead womb.

The holy grail of obstetrics was a cesarean that saved both mother and child. While medieval accounts claim successes, the first indisputable case occurred in America in 1794. Elizabeth Bennett, in the throes of a perilous labor, begged her physicians to perform a cesarean. They refused, deeming it fatal for her. Her husband, Dr. Jessie Bennett, stepped in and performed the operation himself, miraculously delivering a healthy baby and preserving his wife’s life.

That groundbreaking event paved the way for modern obstetrics. Today, roughly one‑third of births in the United States are delivered via cesarean section, a testament to how far the procedure has come from its deadly origins.

6 First Cataract Surgery: Ancient “Couching” Technique

Cataracts—cloudy protein deposits that fog the eye’s lens—have plagued humanity since antiquity. One of the earliest visual records is an Egyptian statue of the priest Ka‑aper (c. 2457‑2467 B.C.) depicting a heavily clouded eye.

Ancient surgeons devised a bold remedy: a copper needle or lancet was inserted into the eye to dislodge the cataract, pushing it deeper into the vitreous cavity. This method, known as “couching,” didn’t remove the lens opacity but often restored enough vision for the patient to function. The practice appears in the Code of Hammurabi, where a law warned that a physician who caused loss of an eye would have his hands cut off.

Couching persisted for millennia until 1748, when French physician Jacques Daviel performed the first true cataract extraction, removing the cloudy lens entirely. This marked a turning point toward the sophisticated eye surgeries we enjoy today.

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5 First Cholecystectomy: Removal of the Gallbladder in 1882

The gallbladder, a modest pouch beneath the liver, stores bile to aid fat digestion. When gallstones, infection, or rare cancers strike, patients suffer painful attacks. In the 1880s, German physician Carl Johann August Langenbuch, then only 27, routinely opened patients’ abdomens, incised the gallbladder, and cleared its contents—a painful, temporary fix.

Unwilling to settle for short‑lived relief, Langenbuch envisioned a bold solution: total removal of the gallbladder. Skeptics feared the procedure could be lethal. After practicing on cadavers, Langenbuch performed the first successful cholecystectomy on a living patient in 1882, ending a 17‑year battle with gallstones. The patient recovered quickly with minimal side effects.

By 1897, over a hundred cholecystectomies had been performed, and today the operation ranks as the second most common surgical procedure worldwide.

4 First Coronary Artery Bypass Graft: Performed in 1960

Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) reroutes blood around clogged heart arteries using a vessel taken from elsewhere in the body. The road to this lifesaving surgery was paved by a series of incremental breakthroughs. In 1910, Alexis Carrel explored coronary circulation in dogs, laying foundational knowledge. Claude Beck (1935) experimented with substances in the pericardium, while Arthur Vineberg (1946) pioneered a bypass by linking the left internal thoracic artery to the heart wall. Charles Bailey’s 1956 coronary endarterectomy stripped blockages directly.

The pivotal moment arrived inadvertently when Mason Sones mistakenly injected contrast dye into a patient’s right coronary artery, discovering the technique for coronary angiography—allowing surgeons to see arteries in real time rather than operating blind.

All these advances culminated in 1960 when a team led by Robert Goetz performed the first successful CABG. Although the patient died 13 months later, autopsy revealed the graft remained intact, confirming the procedure’s efficacy and opening the door to modern cardiac surgery.

3 First Tonsillectomy: Common Even in 1000 B.C.

A tonsillectomy removes the two lymphoid tissues at the back of the throat, often the first surgical experience for many children plagued by recurrent sore throats.

The practice stretches back to antiquity. Ancient Hindu texts from around 1000 B.C. describe tonsil removal, but the most detailed early account comes from Roman physician Aulus Cornelius Celsus (A.D. 40). He recorded that surgeons would grasp the entire tonsil by hand and extract it in one swift motion—a technique that persisted well into the twentieth century.

2 First Orthopaedic Surgery: A 3,000‑Year‑Old Knee Pin

For decades, a mummy housed at the Rosicrucian Museum in California was thought to be an ordinary ancient Egyptian burial dating from the 11th‑16th centuries B.C. In 1995, researchers X‑rayed six of the museum’s mummies and discovered a startling anomaly in one: a nine‑inch metal pin lodged in its left knee.

Initially, project leader Professor Griggs assumed the pin was a modern addition, perhaps an artifact of recent restoration. However, further examination revealed a resin resembling bone cement surrounding the pin, as well as ancient fat and textiles, confirming the pin was part of a genuine 2,600‑year‑old surgical procedure.

Dr. Richard Jackson, a physician involved in the study, marveled at the biomechanical savvy of the ancient surgeon, noting the pin’s design mirrors modern rigid fixation methods. The operation was not intended to improve the individual’s earthly life; instead, it was performed post‑mortem to ensure the deceased’s body remained functional for the afterlife—a testament to Egyptian reverence for bodily integrity beyond death.

1 First Plastic Surgery: An Ancient Indian Nose Job

Contrary to popular belief, “plastic” surgery does not refer to synthetic polymers but derives from the Greek word plastikos, meaning “to give form.” The earliest recorded cosmetic procedures predate modern materials by over a millennium. The 6th‑century A.D. Indian medical treatise, the Sushruta Samhita, details a sophisticated nasal reconstruction technique.

The text instructs surgeons to measure the missing nose with a leaf, harvest a cheek skin flap attached by a small pedicle, and graft it onto the nasal stump after freshening the recipient site. The reconstructed nose is then supported with castor‑oil plant tubes, powdered herbal dressings, and continuous sesame‑oil applications. Once the graft heals, adjustments can be made to achieve the desired length.

The Sushruta Samhita catalogs 1,120 illnesses, 121 instruments, and 300 procedures, illustrating the breadth of ancient Indian surgical knowledge. This rhinoplasty method remained undocumented in the West until 1794, when a London publication described a similar technique used to rebuild the nose of a mutilated cart driver, marking the first Western encounter with Indian plastic surgery.

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