Wang Yexiao, 35, does an appendectomy on a mango with two "eyes." His surgeries on fruits are popular on Chinese social media. (Screenshot photo)
To alleviate his 2-year-old son's fear of going to the hospital, a doctor in Northeast China conducted some very successful major surgeries on… fruit.
Wang Yexiao, 35, from Hegang of Heilongjiang Province, gained nationwide fame after a series of videos showing him doing surgeries on peaches, mangos, grapes, cherries and even smelly durians, went viral on Sina Weibo.
In one video, Wang uses a stethoscope on a peach and then carefully cuts out a heart-shaped piece of the fruit. He then neatly sutures the piece back in place and gently pats the peach as if it is a little patient.
Wang put stickers of a pair of eyes on a mango before conducting an appendectomy on the fruit.
Wang started the fruit surgeries for his son, but the videos became popular and he thought "this may also help people understand medical procedures and warm the doctor-patient relationship," Wang told the Beijing News.
The videos are shown online in fast motion and Wang told the newspaper that his fruit surgeries take him three to four hours and he buys the equipment he uses online.
Netizens were amused by Wang's creativity. "I am looking forward to seeing his surgery on a sesame seed," one Weibo user wrote.
"Do you eat your patients after the surgery?" joked another netizen.