Kemal Doğru does not have the slightest idea how it happened but his doctors believe that the 64-year-old man may have broken a record for the most kidney stones removed from his body.

Doğru, who lives in the northern Turkish province of Tokat, had sought treatment for a stomachache some 40 days ago. After initial treatment at a public hospital, he was transferred to Gaziosmanpaşa University Hospital in the province. Doctors decided he needed gall bladder surgery. To their amazement, they discovered 14,387 kidney stones inside his body after a surgery that took one and a half hours over three days. Stones of all sizes were removed and carefully packed as doctors say he broke a new record. They plan to apply to the Guinness Book of Records after the haul.

But the elderly man may not have broken the world record as this title belongs to India’s Dhanraj Wadile according to Guinness. Wadile had 172,155 kidney stones removed from his body in a surgery in 2009. But Doğru likely broke the Turkish record, which previously belonged to a patient from whom 8,422 kidney stones were removed.

Dr. Vahit Mutlu, who operated on Doğru, said they applied to the local branch of Guinness to certify the record. Mutlu told Anadolu Agency (AA) on Monday that they found an abnormal growth on the patient’s gall bladder but did not come across a health condition at first. "We applied X-ray imaging and found high values in pancreas enzymes, blood and liver. He also developed jaundice. After further examination, we found plenty of kidney stones," he said.

Mutlu said the gall bladder was full of stones and they had trouble keeping it intact as it was "overflowing" during the surgery. He added that the patient was in good health now and was recovering at the hospital.

For his part, Doğru said he never expected to have so many kidney stones. "I don’t know how they accumulated there. I have no idea what caused it. I eat fruit a lot but I am not sure if this caused it," he said.

Kidney stones are linked to multiple factors, from diet, such as consumption of foods high in protein, salt and sugar, to dehydration and genetic history of the patient. Obesity is also linked to kidney stone development, along with digestive diseases and other medical conditions such as urinary tract infections.