Nine-year-old-boy accidentally amputates part of his own penis with a pestle and mortar

Boy, nine, accidentally amputates his own penis with a pestle and mortar while crushing vegetables

  • Boy accidentally chopped off the end of his own penis in Libreville, Gabon
  • He was crushing vegetables in a large pestle and mortar between his legs 
  • Doctors managed to sew the end back on and he made a full recovery 


A nine-year-old African boy accidentally amputated part of his penis with a pestle and mortar while crushing vegetables.

The unidentified child was taken to hospital in Gabon after clipping the tip of his penis as he smashed the stone tools between his legs.

Doctors immediately took the ‘anxious’ boy into surgery to determine the extent of his injuries, after arriving with his injured member covered in a soaked bandage. 

They found the tip of his penis was partially detached and his urethra — the tube which passes urine — was fully severed. 

Medics first reconnected the urethra using a catheter, a flexible tube used to empty the bladder and collect urine in a drainage bag. They then sewed the end of his penis back on while the boy was under local anaesthetic. 

The boy made a full-recovery and had normal function at a check up a year later.

A nine-year-old boy accidentally amputated his own penis with a pestle and mortar while pounding vegetables in Libreville, Gabon. Picture shows: A reconstruction of how the boy injured himself. It is not clear whether the boy pictured is the one who was injured

A nine-year-old boy accidentally amputated his own penis with a pestle and mortar while pounding vegetables in Libreville, Gabon. Picture shows: A reconstruction of how the boy injured himself. It is not clear whether the boy pictured is the one who was injured

Man’s penis rots after being bitten by a cobra 

A man needed surgery to rebuild his penis after he was bitten by a cobra while on the toilet during a safari trip in South Africa.

The 47-year-old Dutch man went to use the toilet while visiting an unnamed nature reserve in the country.  

While on the toilet, the man was bitten by a highly venomous snouted cobra hidden inside the bowl itself. 

The unidentified man had to wait three hours for emergency helicopter transport to the nearest hospital, which was nearly 220 miles (350km) away. 

In that time he felt a deep burning sensation in his genitals, which began to swell and turn purple, a sign of scrotal necrosis or ‘flesh eating disease’. 

Experts who reported the case in Urology Case Reports said the man has the unfortunate honour of being the first medical case of snouted cobra envenomation of the genitals.

The tale, published in Urinary Case Reports, was published by doctors at Libreville Central Hospital. Medics did not say when the injury itself happened. 

Detachment at the base have forced doctors to fully amputate penises in more severe cases.

The boy was helping his mum prepare a meal at their home outside of Libreville, the country’s capital, when the injury happened.

It took three hours to get him to the hospital but doctors didn’t say whether he arrived on his own or with parents. 

After cleaning the wound and sewing the end back on, the boy was taken out of surgery and given a course of antibiotics to prevent infection.

The boy was kept in hospital to be monitored and have his wound dressed and get painkillers. 

He suffered a flare-up four days later, causing the flesh around the injury to reach temperatures of 102.2F (39C).

And the sutures started to come loose because of the swelling around the wound. 

But the infection came down after treatment and he was given paracetamol to deal with the pain.

He was released from hospital 25 days after the surgery and returned one year later for a check up.

The boy was in no pain and the urethra healed fully, with the wound appearing ‘aesthetically acceptable’, doctors said. 

Writing in the report, they said: ‘Injuries to the penis in children are not common and their management can be tricky. These are rare but often serious emergencies. 

‘They are largely caused by accidents in the home, sports and circumcision. 

‘Treatment in less serious forms poses fewer problems and gives better aesthetic and functional results.

‘The management of serious forms and their complications — amputations, fistulas — resulting from replantation or urethroplasty remains a challenge.’

source: dailymail.co.uk