Boy to have penis rebuilt

A Romanian boy is to have a new penis built using tissue from his mouth after losing his original one in a dare.

Doctors at Grigore Alexandrescu Children's Hospital in Bucharest are promising the 10-year-old a fully working organ.

Ionut Stanga had part of his penis ripped off as he took part in a dare in exchange for a slice of water melon.

A market trader in Bucharest reportedly said he would give the boy free fruit if he tried to pull a trailer with his penis tied to it.

The man, however, is alleged to have dropped the trailer's front bar, which tore off the 10-year-old's penis and urethra.

The trader, who was arrested, said it had been a joke. If found guilty of corporal mutilation, he could be imprisoned for up to seven years.

The missing part of Ionut's organ will be replaced with tissue from his mouth. He has already had the first in a series of operations needed to complete the reconstruction. It is the first surgery of its kind in Romania, reports the daily newspaper Evenimentul Zilei.

Chief surgeon Dr Marin Lascu said: "The intervention went normally and the little patient feels good. For now, we only reinserted the cavernous ligaments of the genital organ, which was not very complicated.

"In two weeks the boy will have more surgery. Tissue will be taken from the mouth and we will try to cover the rest of the penis."

Dr Florin Tudose, chief psychiatrist at the hospital, said: "The boy's penis will be completely redone. He will be a normal person with full sexual abilities. The psychological trauma will also be healed in time."