German clinic 'mistakenly' removes young man's kidney

By Birol Tan

BREMEN, Germany (AA) - A young Turkish-origin man in Germany has seen his dream of being an athlete shattered after doctors mistakenly removed his kidney.

Eighteen-year-old Kerim Ramazan Ucar went to a children's clinic in Bremen on Oct. 4 for an operation on his spleen to treat a hereditary blood disorder.

However, he and his family have been left furious after a pathology report later confirmed one of his kidneys had been removed instead.

Speaking to Anadolu Agency, Ucar said: "I had to have spleen surgery because my disease left me feeling sluggish. The doctors told me that I was going to have a simple operation [and that] even after two days I could be discharged."

"But after the surgery, I felt very sick. I've been suffering from pain and nausea for days."

Ucar said that he learned the shocking truth when he received a pathology report three days after the surgery.

"When I learned the truth, my world, my dreams were destroyed. They darkened my life. How is the kidney confused with the spleen? I need to go to a hospital again for spleen surgery," he said.

Karim’s father, Selcuk, said the family will sue the hospital over their "irremediable mistake".

"The doctors said the kidney may have been taken probably because it was displaced. Unbelievable! Ultrasonography should have been performed before the operation," Durna Ucar, Karim’s mother, said.

She said the operation had been performed by a specialist doctor with 35 years’ experience.

The family also claimed German police seized records connected to the incident.

The hospital and the surgeon have so far declined to comment on the incident.