If you were planning on having a medical procedure done in Sweden any time soon, do not. Leave immediately. Get as far away from that godforsaken country as quickly as possible and never go back.
All right, maybe that’s an overreaction. Sweden is actually quite nice. They have paid paternity leave for dads, and they’re one of the most gender-equal countries in the world.
But this? This? What follows is not for the squeamish.
In September 2009, a Swedish man in his 60s went to a local clinic to get his urinary-tract infection treated. Then, according to the Swedish English-language paper The Local, he—well—he lost his manhood:
When he returned in March 2010 complaining of foreskin irritation, the doctor on duty at the time diagnosed the problem as a simple case of inflammation.
After three weeks passed without the prescribed treatment alleviating the man’s condition, he was instructed to seek further treatment at Blekinge Hospital.
But it took five months before he was able to schedule an appointment at the hospital.
When he finally met with doctors at the hospital, the man was informed he had cancer and his penis would have to be removed.
The case has been reported to Sweden’s National Board of Health and Welfare. It has yet to be determined whether an earlier diagnosis would’ve prevented amputation.
Whatever the case, I have no words. Unnamed, unlucky Swedish man, we could never feel your pain.
—Photo via Wikimedia Commons