Eel Photo: Screenshot of a video posted by Lizhi Video

A man in Xinghua, East China's Jiangsu Province, inserted a 20-centimeter-long eel into his rectum from his anus on July 20 in hopes of relieving constipation, but instead almost lost his life after the eel entered his abdomen. 

What motivated the man to do so is a "folk remedy" that says an eel can help with bowel movement. But instead of curing the constipation, the eel went from the man's rectum to the colon and bit through it, entering the abdomen. 

He finally went to the hospital after enduring pain on the first day as he was "too shy to see the doctor." The doctor who gave him the operation said he could have lost his life as the bacteria in the large intestine may cause hemolysis when it reaches his abdominal cavity.

The eel was still alive by the time it was removed during operation. The man is not the only victim of the "folk remedy" that says inserting eel into rectum can cure constipation. A 50-year-old man in South China's Guangdong Province did the same thing with a 40 cm-long eel in June 2020.On June 2 2020, an African carp was found in the stomach of a young man in Guangdong, who claimed that the fish "slid into" his rectum when he accidentally sat on it.