Thirty seven-year-old Ma Minghai had been a "purple man" since he was born.

The man, with purple blood, skin and eyes, was diagnosed with congenital heart disease when he was 3 years old.

Doctors found that compared to healthy people who have two atria, Ma just had one atrium where his arterial blood mixes with venous blood. The combined blood thus appears purple, and is very easy to cause hypoxia.

The man has been unable to run or get excited since he was a little boy. He would even pass out when he saw other people quarrelling. Some classmates made fun of him, saying that he was "poisoned" as he had a purple appearance.

But due to the family's financial condition, Ma did not receive treatment until Wednesday.

After spending five hours in an operating room in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, the man now has another atria. Doctors say that Ma can lead a normal life in four months, when all of his blood will have been metabolized.