- A Dutch man was ambushed by a cobra while using the toilet during a Safari trip in South Africa.
- The snake bit him on the penis and caused severe swelling and rot, according to the New York Post.
- After being flown for hours to a trauma center for reconstructive genital surgery, he survived.
A Dutch man was bitten by a cobra snake hidden inside a toilet bowl and forced to undergo reconstructive penis surgery after the venom caused his penis to rot, according to the New York Post.
The 47-year-old man was on a safari trip in South Africa using the restroom when he was ambushed by the cobra, which bit him in the penis and caused "scrotal necrosis," according to medical journal Urology Case Reports. The report does not mention when the incident happened – be warned it contains very graphic images of the procedure.
Necrosis refers to when bacteria infect tissue and blood supply fails in the human body, which, if not treated aptly, can spread across the body and cause rot, according to the report.
"His penis and scrotum were noted to be swollen, deep purple in color, and painful on hospital admission. Scrotal necrosis was diagnosed, and he received multiple doses of a non-specific snake venom antiserum and broad-spectrum antibiotics," the case report said.
The case report claimed that it was the first documented "envenomation of the genitals," and said the man did not suffer neurological damage in the process.
The man, who was unidentified in the report, reportedly had to wait three hours before being flown by helicopter to the closest trauma center, which was over 200 miles away.
According to the report, the man's symptoms included vomiting, and a burning, shooting pain that went from his groin through his upper chest.
"The scrotal necrosis was reported to involve the entire fascia (skin to internal spermatic) and was excised with extensive margins. Primary closure was performed, leaving a drain in situ," Urology Case Reports added.
The report added that a plastic surgeon also performed a "penile shaft debridement, with extensive resection of dead tissue extending into the corpus spongiosum to the fold of the preputium," effectively reconstructing the man's penis once healed.
"After 9 days, the patient was repatriated to the Netherlands," the report said.