Dongguan man: ‘My kidney was stolen, I think’

No, you read that right. A man in Dongguan, identified by Southern Daily only as Shu, woke up last Thursday absent his left kidney. He got himself to a hospital, where he told doctors that it had been stolen, but the details of how and why, at the time, escaped him.

The newspaper visited Shu at Dongguan’s Machong Hospital the following day. No relatives or friends with him, Shu groaned with pain as he told police what he did remember. After arriving in Dongguan from Chongqing on February 15, Shu said his plan was to settle down first by renting a place to stay and then to find a job. As for what happened between February 19 and 23, when he checked himself into the hospital, Shu says he only remembers waking up with a pain in his abdomen.

Doctors confirmed that Shu’s left kidney was gone, but were surprised to find the removal had been done professionally and with care, with the incision stitched up properly. Shu’s refusal to call the police at the hospital’s insistence, however, led to their suspicions, shared also by police when Shu conveniently mentioned that he had also come into the possession of 20,000 RMB, the origins of which he could also not explain. Police began an investigation.

Over at China Daily, however, it was reported yesterday that Shu has since admitted to making the whole thing up: there was no memory loss, he sold his kidney to get the money, and

Most of those involved in the case have been captured, police said.

Cover photo from China Daily