Removing Your Own Appendix
(Slightly Graphic)
When I first heard about Leonid Rogozov, the Soviet Arctic Explorer who, in 1961, removed his own appendix, I thought, "Wow, he's the most badass person in existence." Rogozov was the only medical professional on the sixth Soviet Antarctic Expedition, so, when he got appendicitis, he did the only thing he could have to stay alive - take out his own appendix.
Then, I read about Robert Kerr McLaren who removed his own appendix in 1944. McLaren was an Australian soldier who got appendicitis in the Philippines while fighting in World War II.
"With the aid of a mirror and an ordinary knife I took out the appendix. The operation took four and a half hours. It was hell, but I came through all right."
Robert Kerr McLaren
"Wow," I thought, "another total badass!"
Then, I read about Evan O'Neill Kane, an American physician who wanted to show that anesthetics didn't have to be general but instead could be local to a specific region. So, just to prove a point, he removed his own appendix in 1921.
After reading about all of these, I thought, "Wow, there needs to be a page about people who have removed their own appendices, because they're all total badasses." So, to those like me who believe such a page should exist, here you go.