Despite Australia rugging up for winter, it won’t be long before swim season is upon us.
One family who were holidaying in Spain, making the most of the warm weather, had a medical emergency they didn’t expect.
A little boy, Jack, had his penis entangled in the netting of his board shorts while he went swimming on holiday in Spain. When it came time to go to the showers, his mother, Laura, tried to remove her son’s swim shorts, only to have her son scream in pain.
“He was screaming a scream I hadn’t heard before,” she stated.
She realized the netting was strangling her son’s penis. She was unable to untangle it, so she took him immediately to a medical centre, and they were unable to free his penis either.
“I carried him to reception and asked for some scissors. There were two little bubbles, like skin, on either side,” she said. “Like it was going to burst.”
The mother rushed her son to hospital, where the doctors were able to free Jack’s penis, relieving him from the pain of strangulation to his little member.
After the release, doctors were worried there might be permanent damage, but after some time, they were able to reassure Laura, her son would make a full recovery with no lasting damage.
Jack is recovering from his ordeal
The experience was very traumatic for Jack, who is only 5-years-old. He experienced flashbacks to the pain and constantly talked about his horrific experience.
“Jack was very upset about it afterwards but as five year olds do, he’s bounced back. He keeps talking about it now but he’s fine. He talks about how he nearly lost his willy on holiday and goes on about the naughty netting. He’s been warning all his friends as he doesn’t want the same thing to happen to them.”
Laura has encouraged parents to know the dangers of allowing children to swim in netted swim shorts or boardshorts.
To avoid a similar case for your child, always buy shorts that don’t have netting or remove it to protect a child’s genitals.
“Please, those with young children, remove the netting in swim shorts.”
