When a 71 year old Dutchman had a bike accident in the Beijing suburbs and injured his nose, the repercussions of his injury was much greater than the average person’s. Known only as “Mr. Ni” on Chinese media, the man is an ice-cream maker and heavily relies on his nose to master the craft.

On April 12, Mr. Ni was riding his bike near the Ming Tombs when he saw a staff member from a nearby tourist site in the middle of the road beckoning over a tour group. To avoid the staff member, Mr. Ni swerved onto the inner side of the road but struck a piece of wire from a placard and flew from his bike. He required 16 stitches on his nose and also needed surgery on his left shoulder.

After receiving medical treatment, Mr. Ni’s nose returned to normal on the outside, but his smelling ability was impaired by the injury. Mr. Ni has reportedly been an ice-cream maker in China for six years and is responsible for making a hand-made Italian ice cream. Mr. Ni’s lawyer alleged that the Dutchman was the only one who could successfully make the family recipe but to do so, required good eyes, sharp taste buds and a good nose. Since his injury, Mr. Ni has been unable to create that particular flavor and even lost a customer because of it. And so, Mr. Ni took the owner of the scenic site to court.

The owner obviously denied any wrong-doing and claimed that the road was wide enough for Mr. Ni to pass and that the accident was his own fault. According to the courts, there is no way to assess whether Mr. Ni’s smelling abilities were damaged by the accident but the final verdict has yet to be announced.

Source: qianlong.com

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Keywords: nose injury in China