A man in China inserted a live eel into his backside to cure his upset stomach.

An eel

An eel

The unnamed patient had been struggling with constipation and decided to try out a "folk remedy" by placing the live animal inside his body.

Instead of providing a cure, the eel swam up his colon and punctured his abdomen. He had been embarrassed about going to the hospital at first but eventually relented when the pain became too much to cope with.

He eventually took himself to a nearby medical facility where doctors performed surgery and were stunned to find that the eel was still alive.

Medics revealed that the situation could have been far worse had he not gone to hospital, as if bacteria had been allowed to go from the large intestine into his abdomen he may have died.