Buzz
Circumcision, a surgical practice with roots in ancient Egypt, remains one of the most widespread procedures globally. Despite its high success rate, the risks associated with it are often underestimated. When complications arise, the consequences can be life-altering, causing severe physical harm and deep emotional scars. In some cases, survival itself becomes a stroke of luck.
10. A Man’s Living Horror
Adult circumcision is rare, but Johnny Lee Banks Jr., a 56-year-old from Alabama, chose to undergo the procedure. Post-surgery, Banks discovered his penis was gone. He and his wife sued, citing excruciating pain and her suffering due to a “loss of consortium.”
The judge dismissed the lawsuit, stating that Banks and his wife failed to provide essential details like the exact date and time of the surgery. The hospital’s attorney argued that Banks’ claims were baseless and accused him of tarnishing the hospital’s reputation. However, the judge granted Banks 30 days to compile his evidence and refile the case. Banks, who suffers from diabetes and has undergone double amputation, left the courtroom in tears, wheelchair-bound.
9. Ryan Heydari
In January 2013, Ryan Heydari’s parents took their 22-day-old son to an Ontario hospital for a circumcision, a procedure they initially hesitated about but were convinced to proceed with by their family doctor. The Canadian Pediatric Society also endorsed the practice. Reluctantly, the parents agreed, a decision they would later deeply regret.
Post-surgery, the doctor assured the parents that the procedure went smoothly with no bleeding. However, Ryan’s father noticed his son was bleeding excessively, a condition that worsened over time. Tragically, Ryan lost 40% of his blood, leading to hypovolemic shock and ultimately bleeding to death. The hospital advised the pediatrician to be more cautious in the future, while the ER doctor received a mere warning. The parents’ formal complaint was dismissed without any clarification of the errors that led to their son’s death.
8. ‘The Thing Was Like Gone’
In August 2013, Maggie Rhodes brought her three-month-old son, Ashton, to a budget clinic for a circumcision. She sensed something was terribly wrong upon hearing his agonizing screams, which she described as cries of sheer desperation. Rushing into the room, she found her son’s penis severely mutilated. Rhodes claimed the doctor had made an upward incision instead of cutting around the foreskin, leaving her to exclaim, “the thing was like gone.”
Rhodes filed a lawsuit against Christ Community Health Services (CCHS), the clinic where the procedure was performed. While the full extent of the damage remains unclear, her legal team reached out to CCHS to arrange a meeting and requested documentation of the staff’s credentials, including nurses and doctors. However, Christ Community Health Services refused to cooperate.
7. Unsightly
In December 2008, Keka and Steven Lorenzana from Coral Gables, Florida, brought their newborn son to South Miami Hospital for a circumcision performed by OB/GYN Dr. Molina. Three years later, the couple filed a lawsuit against the doctor, alleging that he had left excessive foreskin on the ventral side of the penis, which refers to the underside near the urethra.
Pediatricians initially assured the Lorenzanas that their son would “grow into” the issue, but the parents were furious. They argued that their son was left with permanent scarring and described the outcome as “unsightly.” Their attorney, David Llewellyn, emphasized the long-term emotional and psychological impact the botched procedure would have on the boy as he grew older.
6. Two Instead Of One
A Texas family agreed to an elective circumcision for their four-year-old son after a pediatrician insisted it was necessary due to a tight and redundant foreskin. Post-surgery, the doctor assured the parents it was successful despite minor bleeding. However, a nurse later discovered the bleeding had worsened, prompting a second trip to the operating room.
Following the second procedure, the boy was sent home but soon experienced severe pain. To his parents’ horror, they noticed he was urinating from two separate holes. The pain grew so intense that the child screamed during urination and had to sit down to manage the dual streams. In his agony, he even pleaded to have his penis removed.
After the child started urinating blood, his parents took him to another doctor, who diagnosed a fistula (a hole) in his penis caused by excessive cauterization during the initial surgery. The parents sued the doctor responsible, and the boy is expected to undergo multiple surgeries to repair the damage.
5. The Windy City Blues
In September 2015, Miriam Rodriguez from Chicago welcomed her newborn son. Shortly after his circumcision at the hospital, she filed a lawsuit against the medical facility and the doctors, alleging improper circumcision that resulted in mutilation. Rodriguez claimed her son, Angel, suffered disfigurement, tissue loss, and a loss of sensation.
The lawsuit seeks compensation for lost wages, attorney fees, future medical expenses, and over $50,000 in punitive damages. Rodriguez also stated that she has experienced “mental pain and anguish and loss of a normal life” since the procedure. The outcome of the lawsuit and the full extent of the infant’s injuries remain uncertain.
4. ‘We’ll Forget You Never’
Brayden Tyler Frazier was only 11 days old when he passed away two days after a circumcision. The exact cause of death was unclear initially, but the infant was diagnosed with hemophilia, leading to uncontrollable bleeding post-surgery. Hemophilia is a disorder where blood fails to clot properly, resulting in prolonged and excessive bleeding.
The medical team stated they exhausted all options to stop the bleeding, administering plasma, platelets, and coagulants, but nothing worked. After the hemorrhage, Brayden suffered liver and kidney failure along with uncontrollable seizures. His obituary concluded with the poignant line, “We’ll forget you never, the child we had but never had and yet will have forever.”
3. David Reimer
One of the most tragic tales on this list belongs to Bruce Reimer. At seven months old in 1966, Bruce was brought in for a circumcision. The doctor, inexperienced with the procedure, used an electric cauterizing tool with a sharp needle to remove the foreskin. The surgery went terribly wrong, and Bruce’s parents were informed that reconstruction was impossible. Following psychologist John Money’s advice, they decided to raise their son as a girl, performing additional surgeries to create a vagina and administering hormone treatments. Bruce became “Brenda,” but he rejected this identity early on, even ripping off a dress his mother had made for him.
Throughout his childhood, Bruce resisted living as a girl. When he discovered the truth about his past as a teenager—a secret his parents had kept—he stopped hormone treatments and embraced life as a man. He adopted the name David, married, and became a stepfather to three children. Tragedy struck in 2002 when his brother took his own life. More bad luck followed, including financial struggles after losing his job and a divorce from his wife. In 2004, David ended his life at the age of 38.
2. The Ritual
In September 2012, a Brooklyn baby died after contracting herpes simplex virus type 1 during an Orthodox Jewish circumcision ritual known as metzitzah b’peh. This ritual, part of the bris ceremony, involves the rabbi circumcising the infant and then placing his mouth on the penis to draw blood from the wound.
This ritual is intended to purify the circumcision wound, but in this instance, it had the opposite effect. Dr. William Schaffner, chair of preventative medicine at Vanderbilt University, explained that herpes in children is often fatal because infants lack the immunity adults have, who can carry the virus without symptoms. In this case, the virus likely entered the baby’s bloodstream through saliva contact with the wound, spreading to the brain and causing inflammation and severe damage.
1. Terrel Hall
A week after giving birth to her son Terrel, Melanie Hall took him to a Los Angeles doctor for a circumcision. Shortly after he was taken into the procedure room, she heard terrifying screams. Rushing in, she found her son with the tip of his penis severed.
Reports indicate that Terrel lost 85% of the top of his penis. Melanie sued the manufacturer of the medical clamp used in the procedure, alleging it was defective and caused the botched circumcision. Court documents revealed the boy would need annual visits to a pediatric urologist, potential future surgeries, and psychiatric care for the trauma. Eight years later, a judge ruled in Melanie’s favor, awarding her $4.7 million, including $1 million for legal fees.
