Willy or won't he
By Hayley Birch
Once in a while, a story surfaces from the bottom of some murky medical swamp of bizarre operations and gruesome diseases, and defies you to ignore it. And no matter how you cringe and wrinkle your nose and imagine your grandma blushing at the very thought of it, you can't help but be intrigued. This, I'm afraid, is one such story.
Heart, liver and kidney transplants are commonplace these days. In the UK 13 million of us have signed up to donate our own organs. And the Human Tissue Act came into force earlier this month, allowing surgeons to override the wishes of a potential donor's relatives. The idea is to increase the number of organs becoming available for live saving transplants and decrease the number of patients dying on NHS waiting lists. But - and here comes the nose wrinkling bit - how would you feel if the organ in question was not your dead relative's liver, but his penis?
So far only one successful penis transplant has been performed - on a 44 year old man whose own had been damaged in a traffic accident, leaving him unable to urinate properly for eight months. Unfortunately the Chinese surgeons who attached the organ had to remove it recently when both the recipient and his long-suffering wife complained of psychological problems following the operation. Doctor Hu, who carried out the operation, added that "the swollen shape of the transplanted penis" contributed to the decision.
And for those of you eagerly awaiting the unnecessary detail, the operation took 15 hours and the transplanted penis was donated by the parents of a 22 year old man. Our sources also found it necessary to mention the size of the organ for some reason - 10cm (with four inches in brackets, just to make sure).
It's alright grandma, you can look now.
To read more about Hayley or to view more of her articles click here
Heart, liver and kidney transplants are commonplace these days. In the UK 13 million of us have signed up to donate our own organs. And the Human Tissue Act came into force earlier this month, allowing surgeons to override the wishes of a potential donor's relatives. The idea is to increase the number of organs becoming available for live saving transplants and decrease the number of patients dying on NHS waiting lists. But - and here comes the nose wrinkling bit - how would you feel if the organ in question was not your dead relative's liver, but his penis?
So far only one successful penis transplant has been performed - on a 44 year old man whose own had been damaged in a traffic accident, leaving him unable to urinate properly for eight months. Unfortunately the Chinese surgeons who attached the organ had to remove it recently when both the recipient and his long-suffering wife complained of psychological problems following the operation. Doctor Hu, who carried out the operation, added that "the swollen shape of the transplanted penis" contributed to the decision.
And for those of you eagerly awaiting the unnecessary detail, the operation took 15 hours and the transplanted penis was donated by the parents of a 22 year old man. Our sources also found it necessary to mention the size of the organ for some reason - 10cm (with four inches in brackets, just to make sure).
It's alright grandma, you can look now.
To read more about Hayley or to view more of her articles click here
Share this
