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A popular influencer has shocked fans after confessing she cooked and ate part of her own knee in a spaghetti bolognese.
Paula Gonu requested local anaesthesia so she could be awake to watch her doctor perform surgery on her knee to remove cartilage from a previous injury.
The 30-year-old was given the option to take what was extracted home which she later ate in a pasta dish with her boyfriend because she wanted to ‘reinsert’ it back into her body.
I told him I wanted to eat it because it was part of me and I wanted to put it back in my body. Then I made a bolognese and put it in and we ate it,’ she said.
A spokesperson from The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners told FEMAIL they don’t recommend eating your own cartilage after surgery.
Speaking on the 113 Podcast, Paula, who has more than 3.1 million followers across Instagram and YouTube, said she opted to stay conscious for her knee surgery.
‘(The doctor) used a camera. He operated through two holes and it was all up on the screen,’ she explained in Spanish.
When the procedure was over the surgeon asked Paula if she wanted to keep the cartilage.
‘I told him “yes”, and he put what he removed into a small container like those used for urine samples. He put it in alcohol so it would stay that way for as long as I wanted,’ she said.
When she was out of hospital, Paula was chatting with her boyfriend and she mentioned wanting to eat the meniscus.
‘I told him, “I want to eat it. It’s mine and I have to reinsert it into my body”. He asked, “but why do you want to eat it?” I answered, “why not? It’s not going to hurt me”,’ she said.
Paula, who has more than 3.1million followers across Instagram and YouTube, opted to stay conscious during her knee surgery so she could watch the doctor remove her meniscus
So, then I made a Bolognese sauce, I added it in, and I ate it. I wanted to be able to say in my head that I’ve eaten a piece of my own meniscus.’
Paula said the spag-bol with her bodily substance was no different from eating that from ‘worse animals’.
A spokesperson from The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners advised against eating your own cartilage.
‘There are many things doctors recommend patients do following surgery including recuperating slowly and carefully heeding all instructions given to them post-surgery,’ they said.
‘However, eating your own cartilage is certainly not one of them.’
Those who heard the podcast, which was also posted on YouTube, were horrified by the story and shared their shock online.
‘At what point did I decide that it was a good idea to watch this over dinner?’ one viewer commented.
‘What in the fresh hell is this?’ another tweeted.
‘Did they wash it down with a nice Chianti?’ joked a third.
‘I almost threw up a thousand times in the first few minutes talking about food,’ a fourth wrote.
‘I made a Bolognese sauce, I added (the cartilage) in, and I ate it. I wanted to be able to say in my head that I’ve eaten a piece of my own meniscus,’ she said
While Paula has been dubbed a cannibal for the act by Spanish media outlets Dr. Oren Gottfried, a full professor of neurosurgery and spine at Duke University School of Medicine told Gizmodo it may not be that extreme.
‘I would like to think the motivation is not the desire to eat human flesh but to receive some unique health benefit or at least publicity or recognition,’ he said.
‘Most hospitals do not allow the hand off of human tissue, bones, or explanted instrumentation due to health concerns.’
He said does not recommend eating your own cartilage and he does not give any bodily substances back to patients in the operating room.
‘I do worry about health risk of eating any raw meat. I have heard of companies that sterilize and morselise placentas and mothers take pills of it,’ he said.
‘I’m not aware of any specific health benefit. I would not recommend any of these activities.’
