Malcolm MacDonald, a British man, lost his penis due to a blood infection, and as a result, he had a new one built and placed on one of his arms.
The 45-year-old mechanic lost his genitals over the infection in his perineum, which ended up turning his appendages (including his member) black.
"I had struggled for years with an infection in my perineum but I had no idea what could happen," he told British tabloid the Sun. "When I saw my penis go black I was beside myself. It was like a horror film. I was in a complete panic. I knew deep down it was gone and I was going to lose it." He said that despite his concerns about the infection, he was "gutted" when his penis "dropped off on to the floor" in 2015. Despite losing his penis, his testicles remained intact. "Because I had been through the devastation of knowing I was going to lose it, I just picked it up and put it in the bin."
When he eventually went to the hospital, he said that doctors told him "the best they could do" was to "roll the remaining stump up like a little sausage roll." He referred to the situation as "heartbreaking," and later turned to heavy drinking and became increasingly reclusive.
Years later he met with Professor David Ralph of London's University College Hospital, who previously created a "bionic penis" for a man born without out. "It gave me a glimmer of hope that I could go back to being a normal bloke," he explained. The arm-graft treatment he was offered cost $65,000 overall and would take two years. He also asked the professor if he could make the new penis on his arm two inches bigger.
Surgeons were able to craft him a new penis with its own blood vessels and nerves, creating an artificial urethra and installing two tubes inflated with a hand pump to allow him to get an erection. The penis has since been removed form his forearm, and will be transferred to its original location later down the line.
"When I saw it on my arm for the first time I was so, so proud. After everything I had been through it didn’t feel weird at all — it was just a part of me," he explained. "It looks like something out of a weird sci-fi comic. But it’s my chance at a normal life. It’s been the first step towards being able to go to the toilet and even being intimate with someone."
