Over the course of an eight-hour deposition, Florida surgeon Thomas Shaknovsky faced the same question again and again: Why did he remove a man\u2019s liver instead of his spleen?<\/p>\n
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The disastrous August 2024 surgical error and death of Shaknovsky\u2019s patient, 70-year-old William Bryan, on the operating table prompted Bryan\u2019s widow to file a lawsuit last year and a grand jury to indict Shaknovsky on a manslaughter charge<\/a> last month. He has pleaded not guilty. <\/p>\n Exactly what went wrong during the planned splenectomy has remained a mystery \u2014 especially since Shaknovsky has not spoken publicly about the case. <\/p>\n A deposition Shaknovsky gave in November as part of the lawsuit offers his first detailed, emotional account of the operation. Shaknovsky said there were unusual factors that made Bryan\u2019s procedure more difficult. And he described the profound toll of losing a patient, saying he broke down in tears afterward.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was an incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply, and I\u2019m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,\u201d he said, according to a transcript of the deposition shared with NBC News by attorney Joe Zarzaur, who represents Bryan\u2019s widow, Beverly Bryan.<\/p>\n Wrong-site surgeries can occur \u201cduring difficult circumstances,\u201d Shaknovsky said, which in this case included blood in Bryan\u2019s abdomen and an enlarged colon obstructing Shaknovsky\u2019s view of other organs.<\/p>\n Shaknovsky said that while he was trying to get a better view as the operation was underway, Bryan started bleeding profusely, causing his heart to stop. As the operating room team did chest compressions, Shaknovsky said, he desperately tried to find the source of the bleeding. It was during that chaotic time that he accidentally removed Bryan\u2019s liver rather than his spleen.<\/p>\n Shaknovsky then instructed a nurse to label the organ he removed as a spleen \u2014 which typically weighs less than 15% of a liver. <\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t explain to you what it\u2019s like for a surgeon to lose a patient on a table and how demoralizing it is and how devastating it is. And I couldn\u2019t tell the difference because I was so upset,\u201d Shaknovsky said of mixing up the organs. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a devastating thing, which I will have to live with the rest of my life,\u201d he said in the transcript, which is about 400 pages long, \u201cand I think about it every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n More from NBC News on Shaknovsky<\/p>\n Prosecutors have not offered a detailed timeline of how the surgery unfolded. A medical examiner determined Bryan died of \u201cexsanguination,\u201d or bleeding to death, and \u201csurgical removal of the liver,\u201d according to his death certificate. <\/p>\n Neither Shaknovsky nor his attorneys responded to a request for comment on his deposition. The lawsuit, which also names Shaknovsky\u2019s former private practice, is ongoing. Shaknovsky and the practice have denied intentional wrongdoing in court filings.<\/p>\n Do you have a story to share? Email reporters elizabeth.chuck@nbcuni.com<\/a> and matthew.lavietes@nbcuni.com<\/a> or reach us at our tip line<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bryan, a veteran from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, had been visiting Florida with his wife when he began experiencing pain on his left side, according to Beverly Bryan\u2019s lawsuit. The couple went to Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast in Miramar Beach, where, according to the lawsuit, Shaknovsky convinced them that Bryan urgently needed a splenectomy, despite the couple\u2019s wanting to return home to Alabama.<\/p>\n![\"Thomas](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/260424-3x2-Thomas-Shaknovsky-arrest-1-ew-354p-84d1e4.jpg\")
Officers arrest Thomas Shaknovsky in Miramar Beach, Fla., on April 13.Walton County Sheriff\u2019s Office<\/p>\n