Meet Dr Fruit: the Chinese surgeon who goes to grape lengths to promote precision surgery
- Wang Yexiao originally started making short videos of his ‘fruit operations’ to entertain his two-year-old son
- He now regularly posts these unusual slices of surgical skill on Beijing-based video-sharing platform Kuaishou
A Chinese surgeon has become an online media sensation by posting videos of himself performing mock operations on pieces of fruit to raise awareness of the importance of precision surgery.
Wang Yexiao, 31, who lives in China’s northernmost Heilongjiang province, originally started making short videos of his “fruit surgeries” to entertain his two-year-old son, and any other children who might watch them.
But recognising he had an opportunity to educate the public about the precision demanded by his profession, he now regularly posts these unusual slices of surgical skill on Beijing-based video-sharing platform Kuaishou.
“I originally shot the videos for my baby to pique his interest,” Wang said.
“I thought that other children would be interested too, so I shared them on Kuaishou and the response was quite good. As a doctor myself, I thought that these videos could have a greater meaning. I changed my handle to ‘the fruit doctor’.”
Wang has gained more than 100,000 followers on the social media app since posting his first video four months ago – showing him removing the seed from a grape by “caesarean section”. The video of the delicate procedure drew nearly 3 million views.