A Chinese surgeon saved the life of an airline passenger in quite an unusual way: he sucked urine from the elderly man's blocked bladder.

Zhang Hong, a surgeon from the First Affiliated Hospital of Jinan University in Guangzho, is being called a hero for saving an elderly man's life mid-flight.

On a flight from China to New York, a passenger suddenly fell ill. His symptoms included profuse sweating and a swollen stomach. The man's family informed cabin crew that he had recently been diagnosed with an enlarged prostate. According to various Chinese media outlets, this led Zhang to believe that a life-threatening blockage causing urinary retention was the problem.

The quick-thinking doctor then used an improvised catheter to suck urine from an ailing man’s bladder. He spent 37 minutes draining approximately 800 milliliters of urine from the man’s blocked bladder, spitting the liquid in an empty wine bottle.

Zhang reportedly later said that it was "doctor's instinct," adding that "there was no other way. I didn't think too much about it."