THE LIVER THAT “MIGRATED”: Inside the Anatomical Horror and the Web of Lies in a Florida Operating Room

MIRAMAR BEACH, FL — In the world of high-stakes surgery, there is a thin line between a tragic accident and criminal negligence. But for the family of William Bryan, a 70-year-old Navy veteran, that line wasn’t just crossed—it was obliterated.

What was supposed to be a routine laparoscopic splenectomy (spleen removal) at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast ended in what medical experts are calling one of the most “anatomically impossible” fatalities in modern history.

The 2-Kilogram “Mistake”

The core of the investigation centers on a discrepancy so massive it defies medical logic. A human spleen typically weighs about 200 grams and sits on the upper left side of the abdomen. The liver, however, is the body’s largest internal organ, weighing approximately 2 kilograms (over 4 lbs) and occupying the upper right side.

During the procedure on August 21, 2024, Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky removed Mr. Bryan’s entire liver. The sheer force required to detaching the liver—an organ connected to major vascular structures like the vena cava—caused immediate, catastrophic exsanguination (fatal bleeding).

The “Gaslight” in the Waiting Room

Perhaps more chilling than the surgical error was the narrative spun immediately after. According to legal filings, Dr. Shaknovsky stood before Mr. Bryan’s widow and delivered a fabrication that sounded like science fiction: he claimed the patient’s spleen was so “diseased” that it had grown four times its size and “migrated” across the body to the right side, taking the place of the liver.

The autopsy, however, told no such tale. The medical examiner found Mr. Bryan’s spleen perfectly intact on the left side of his body, burdened only by a small, harmless cyst. The liver—the organ the doctor insisted was a “giant spleen”—was gone.

“It Was Like a Clogged Sink”

In newly released deposition transcripts from May 2026, Shaknovsky’s defense has taken a desperate turn. He described the operating field as a chaotic “war zone,” comparing the internal bleeding to a “clogged sink overflowing with water.”

Investigators, however, point to a damning chronological flaw: the “overflowing sink” of blood didn’t cause the confusion; the confusion—specifically the act of cutting into the liver’s massive blood supply—caused the “sink” to overflow. Staff testimonies further allege that Shaknovsky ignored “red flag” anatomical markers and even pressured nurses to label the liver specimen as a “spleen” while the patient was flatlining.

A Pattern of “Cutter’s Confusion”

This wasn’t Shaknovsky’s first brush with anatomical disorientation. Investigative reports have surfaced regarding a 2023 incident where the same doctor allegedly removed a portion of a patient’s pancreas instead of the intended adrenal gland.

The revelation has turned public outrage toward the hospital administration. Why was a surgeon with a history of confusing vital organs allowed to lead a major procedure? The “Hierarchy of Silence” in the operating room is now under fire, as investigators ask why none of the support staff intervened when they saw a 2kg organ being pulled from the wrong side of the patient’s body.

The Road to Justice

As of April 2026, the state of Florida has officially charged Thomas Shaknovsky with Second-Degree Manslaughter. With his medical license suspended across multiple states, the man who “couldn’t tell the difference” between a liver and a spleen now faces up to 15 years in prison.

For the Bryan family, the criminal charges are a hollow victory. “He didn’t just die from a mistake,” their legal counsel stated. “He died because a system allowed a surgeon to play God with a map he couldn’t read.”

Fla. Doctor Said He ‘Couldn’t Tell the Difference’ After Removal of Wrong Organ During Surgery That Ended in Patient’s Death

Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky is accused of removing 70-year-old William Bryan’s liver instead of his spleen during a procedure, leading to his deathc

Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky; patient William Bryan.Credit : Walton County Sheriff’s Office; Courtesy Zarzaur Law

NEED TO KNOW

A Florida doctor, who has been charged with second-degree manslaughter, said in a deposition that he “couldn’t tell the difference” between the patient’s organs during a surgery that ended in the patient’s death

Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky said that the death of 70-year-old William Bryan was an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply”
William’s wife, Beverly Bryan, has claimed that her husband’s August 2024 death was caused by Shaknovsky, after he allegedly removed the 70-year-old’s liver instead of his spleen

A Florida doctor, who has been charged with second-degree manslaughter after being accused of removing the wrong organ during a surgery, said he “couldn’t tell the difference” between the patient’s organs.

In a November 2025 deposition that was recently obtained by NBC News, Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, 44, said the death of 70-year-old William Bryan was an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply.”

William’s wife, Beverly Bryan, has claimed that her husband’s August 2024 death was caused by Shaknovsky, after he allegedly removed the 70-year-old’s liver instead of his spleen, PEOPLE previously reported.

In his deposition testimony, the surgeon said William began bleeding extensively, causing his heart to stop.

“I couldn’t tell the difference because I was so upset,” Shaknovsky said, referring to the moment he allegedly incorrectly identified an organ as he attempted to stop William’s bleeding.

“It was like an overflown sink that’s clogged up, and I am looking for a fork at the bottom, trying to feel and find the bleed, and I was not able to do so,” Shaknovsky continued in the eight-hour deposition, reviewed by NBC News. “After 20 minutes of struggling, desperately trying to save his life, that’s when the wrong-site event took place.”

William Bryan and his wife Beverly.Courtesy Zarzaur Law

PEOPLE previously reported that Beverly and her husband had been visiting Okaloosa County, Fla., from their home in Muscle Shoals, Ala., when William sought medical care on Aug. 18, 2024, for “severe abdominal pain,” per the Operative Documentation previously shared with PEOPLE by Beverly’s attorney, Zarzaur Law.

“It’s a devastating thing, which I will have to live with the rest of my life,” Shaknovsky said during his testimony. “I think about it every single day.”

Shaknovsky said he went to the hospital’s library to cry after his team was unable to resuscitate William.

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“I went there to cry because I was devastated,” he said. “I didn’t want the staff to see me like that.”

Also during the deposition, the surgeon said that he believed William’s spleen was “double the size of what is normal” because of a mass on it, despite spleens usually weighing less than 15% of a liver, per NBC News.

However, William’s wife’s lawsuit alleges that a medical examiner told her that her husband’s spleen was anatomically “nearly normal.”

According to the deposition, Shaknovsky instructed a nurse to label the liver as a spleen after it was removed and identified it as a spleen in his postoperative notes.

Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky.Walton County Sheriff’s Office

Shaknovsky said he had been “mentally compromised” as he was writing the notes, adding that he felt “devastated, demoralized, crying over [William’s] passing, felt that I failed him.”

According to NBC News, Beverly’s lawsuit against the surgeon accuses Shaknovsky of medical malpractice, alleging that he “wrongfully omitted any reference to Mr. Bryan’s liver being removed in order to ‘cover up’ his gross negligence/recklessness and to hopefully avoid the embarrassment due to such derelict care.”

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Last month, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office announced that a grand jury had returned an indictment charging Shaknovsky with second-degree manslaughter for William’s death.

“The Grand Jury found probable cause to charge that the actions taken in the operating room constituted criminal conduct under Florida law,” the sheriff’s office stated in a release.

Shaknovsky was taken into custody in Miramar Beach before being transferred to the Walton County Jail.