Friday, July 15, 2011

Unsure Medical Future for Orange County Penis-Slashing Victim

This story gets a content warning.

At Orange County Register, "Penis-slashing victim faces difficult medical choices":

The Garden Grove man who had his penis cut off faces an uncertain prognosis, local doctors say. Even after reconstructive surgery, he might never regain normal sexual function.

The victim’s wife, Catherine Kieu Becker, 48, is accused of drugging him, tying him to the bed and then slicing off his penis after an argument Monday night.

Because of privacy concerns, few details about the unidentified victim, 60, have been released, other than he’s in “good spirits” at UCI Medical Center in Orange. Hospital spokesman John Murray says the victim has not expressed interest in discussing his ordeal, and the doctor who performed emergency surgery on him has not been made available to discuss the man’s treatment and recovery options.

But experts who have treated patients in similar situations say this victim is worse off than John Wayne Bobbitt, the Virginia man who became a household name in 1993 when his wife, Lorena, cut off more than half his penis. She had claimed he’d raped her after a drunken night out. Despite his wounds, the penis was surgically re-attached, and he told the ladies of “The View” earlier this year that it functions normally.

Bobbitt had most of his penis intact. The severed portion was found in a field after his wife had tossed it out the window. It was put on ice and preserved long enough to re-attach it. But the Garden Grove man’s penis was put through a garbage disposal, so there was nothing left to re-attach.
More at that link above, and the Los Angeles Times has a more hopeful piece: "There are options for penis repair after mutilation."

See also, The Stir, "Woman Who Severed Husband's Penis: Why Did She Do It?"

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