“Forever Traumatized”: Florida Surgeon Breaks Silence After Fatal Wrong-Organ Error
MIRAMAR BEACH — A Florida surgeon facing manslaughter charges for fatally removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has broken his silence, describing himself as “forever traumatized” by the event. In a chilling 400-page deposition recently reviewed by legal authorities, Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, 44, offered a visceral account of the August 2024 operating room disaster that claimed the life of 70-year-old Navy veteran William Bryan.
Shaknovsky, who was arrested in April 2026 while working as a Lyft driver, claimed that a series of “difficult circumstances”—including profuse internal bleeding and an enlarged colon that obstructed his view—led to the catastrophic misidentification. “It was like an overflown sink that’s clogged up, and I am looking for a fork at the bottom,” Shaknovsky stated during the deposition, describing his desperate search for the source of a bleed. “I can’t explain to you what it’s like for a surgeon to lose a patient on a table… I think about it every single day.”
The surgery, which took place at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast hospital, was intended to be a routine laparoscopic splenectomy. However, investigators allege that Shaknovsky mistakenly transected the major vasculature supplying the liver instead, causing “catastrophic blood loss.” Despite the surgeon’s claim that he was “too upset” to tell the difference between the organs, medical experts noted that a liver typically weighs significantly more than a spleen, which usually accounts for less than 15% of a liver’s mass.
Furthermore, state health officials and the victim’s widow, Beverly Bryan, have accused the surgeon of a deceptive cover-up. According to an emergency suspension order from the Florida Department of Health, Shaknovsky reportedly labeled the removed liver as a “spleen” and told the family the organ was “grossly enlarged” and had “migrated” to the wrong side of the body. An autopsy later revealed that Mr. Bryan’s actual spleen was entirely intact and in its normal anatomical position.
This was reportedly not Shaknovsky’s first major surgical error. Records from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation indicate that in May 2023, he settled a claim after allegedly removing part of a patient’s pancreas instead of an adrenal gland. He is also currently the subject of an ongoing lawsuit related to a 2023 sepsis death following an abdominal procedure.
While Shaknovsky’s defense team emphasizes the “demoralizing” nature of the accident for the practitioner, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office remains firm on the criminal nature of the incident. “Our duty is to follow the facts,” stated Sheriff Michael Adkinson following the grand jury’s indictment. “The Grand Jury has spoken, and our responsibility is to ensure the charges are carried out.”
Shaknovsky, whose medical licenses in Florida, Alabama, and New York have since been suspended or surrendered, is scheduled for arraignment on May 19, 2026. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of second-degree manslaughter.
MIRAMAR BEACH — A Florida surgeon facing manslaughter charges for fatally removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has broken his silence, describing himself as “forever traumatized” by the event. In a chilling 400-page deposition recently reviewed by legal authorities, Dr. Thomas Shaknovsky, 44, offered a visceral account of the August 2024 operating room disaster that claimed the life of 70-year-old Navy veteran William Bryan.
Shaknovsky, who was arrested in April 2026 while working as a Lyft driver, claimed that a series of “difficult circumstances”—including profuse internal bleeding and an enlarged colon that obstructed his view—led to the catastrophic misidentification. “It was like an overflown sink that’s clogged up, and I am looking for a fork at the bottom,” Shaknovsky stated during the deposition, describing his desperate search for the source of a bleed. “I can’t explain to you what it’s like for a surgeon to lose a patient on a table… I think about it every single day.”
The surgery, which took place at Ascension Sacred Heart Emerald Coast hospital, was intended to be a routine laparoscopic splenectomy. However, investigators allege that Shaknovsky mistakenly transected the major vasculature supplying the liver instead, causing “catastrophic blood loss.” Despite the surgeon’s claim that he was “too upset” to tell the difference between the organs, medical experts noted that a liver typically weighs significantly more than a spleen, which usually accounts for less than 15% of a liver’s mass.
Furthermore, state health officials and the victim’s widow, Beverly Bryan, have accused the surgeon of a deceptive cover-up. According to an emergency suspension order from the Florida Department of Health, Shaknovsky reportedly labeled the removed liver as a “spleen” and told the family the organ was “grossly enlarged” and had “migrated” to the wrong side of the body. An autopsy later revealed that Mr. Bryan’s actual spleen was entirely intact and in its normal anatomical position.
This was reportedly not Shaknovsky’s first major surgical error. Records from the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation indicate that in May 2023, he settled a claim after allegedly removing part of a patient’s pancreas instead of an adrenal gland. He is also currently the subject of an ongoing lawsuit related to a 2023 sepsis death following an abdominal procedure.
While Shaknovsky’s defense team emphasizes the “demoralizing” nature of the accident for the practitioner, the Walton County Sheriff’s Office remains firm on the criminal nature of the incident. “Our duty is to follow the facts,” stated Sheriff Michael Adkinson following the grand jury’s indictment. “The Grand Jury has spoken, and our responsibility is to ensure the charges are carried out.”
Shaknovsky, whose medical licenses in Florida, Alabama, and New York have since been suspended or surrendered, is scheduled for arraignment on May 19, 2026. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted of second-degree manslaughter.
