A 64-year-old cancer patient in the United States who lost most of his penis to the disease underwent a penis transplant—the third ever such surgery in medical science’s history. The patient Thomas Manning is recovering after a 15-hour long surgery that took place earlier this month at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
“The patient, Thomas Manning, 64, of Halifax, Massachusetts, continues to recover well, with blood flow established to the donor organ and no signs of bleeding, rejection or infection,” AFP quoted a statement issued by the hospital.
“While the patient is still early in the post-surgical healing process, his physicians say they are cautiously optimistic he will regain function that he lost in 2012,” it added.
The organ came from a dead donor whose blood type matched Manning’s. Manning expressed his gratitude to the donor and family that had requested anonymity. Manning decided to go public in a bid to eliminate the shame and stigma associated with the loss of a penis.
“In sharing this success with all of you, it’s my hope we can usher in a bright future for this type of transplantation,” AFP quoted Manning.
Manning had been suffering from a rare form of penile cancer since 2012. After removing the tumour, he was left with a stump that was just about an inch long.
Following the amputation, Manning was reportedly highly fearful of going near women in fear of developing a relationship. He was single when his penis was operated upon in 2012.
“I wouldn’t go near anybody,” he said. “I couldn’t have a relationship with anybody. You can’t tell a woman, ‘I had a penis amputation,'” he added.
The goals of the surgery were to reconstruct his genitalia to a give a more natural appearance, to allow the patient to urinate normally and to let him achieve normal sexual function.
The first penis transplant in the world took place in China in 2006. However it was learned that the patient removed it due to a severe psychological problem of the recipient and his wife.
The world’s first successful penis transplant was announced in 2015 in South Africa. The organ was grafted onto a 21-year-old man who had lost his penis in a miscalculated circumcision.
