Man disappointed to learn that his kidney has not gone missing after all

Everyone! You can stop searching for that “missing kidney,” turns out that it never left after all.
The story of the mysterious disappearing kidney went viral last week, with Liu Yongwei claiming that his kidney had vanished following a chest operation last year. Liu underwent surgery at the Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College in Jiangsu province after being badly injured in a tractor crash. He claims the surgeon, Dr. Hu Bo, a cardio-thoracic specialist (ie, hearts and lungs), had somehow managed to mishandle his right kidney during the operation.

Liu only learned this a couple of months later, when another hospital gave him a routine CT scan and couldn’t find his kidney anywhere in the picture. Liu visited several other hospitals and they confirmed the diagnosis: kidney gone.
Enraged Liu confronted officials and staff at the Xuzhou hospital and threatened to sue them for 2 million yuan for their incompetence. However, the hospital told Liu to go ahead and bring on the lawsuit. They claimed that Liu’s kidney had not gone “missing,” but instead had simply shriveled up to the size of a sesame seed in the corner of his abdomen. Officials insisted that further tests would prove the truth about the matter, forming an investigation team composed of medical experts and local health officials last Thursday.

And they were right! Investigators released a statement yesterday, confirming that Liu still technically has both his kidneys, NetEase reports. The Nanjing General Hospital was brought in as an unbiased third party, they found that Liu’s kidney had been “displaced, deformed and atrophied,” but it was definitely not missing.
After learning about the results of the investigation, Liu has said that he will drop his demand of 2 million yuan in compensation.

Tough luck.
[Images via Anhui News]