A Peruvian teenager who accidentally shot himself in the groin when he was a child will undergo penis replacement surgery in Miami.
Luis Canelos was 9 years old when the accident almost entirely destroyed his genital region occurred. Now 17, Luis hopes to have a fully functioning penis once the operation is complete in August.
“I want to recover my body, be young again,” Luis said.
The surgery, called phalloplasty, will be paid for through a donation from the International Kids Fund Wonderfund, the Miami Herald reported. The charity helps foreign kids get medical treatment they otherwise couldn’t afford or cannot access.
Luis’ treatment will cost $50,000.
“My family is a poor family. We don’t have a lot of resources,” said Luis’ father, Roger Canelos.
The Canelos family lives in a small, remote town in northern Peru, near the border with Colombia and Ecuador. Both father and son had never before left their region before the journey to Miami.
Despite the relative isolation of their home, a doctor at the University of Miami had heard about Luis’ plight and told his story to IKF Wonderfund.
The organization wanted to help Luis “not only because of the physical situation but also because of the emotional side effects that come with the situation,” said Executive Director Maria Luisa Chea.
During the surgery, medical teams will build a penis using a small calf bone from a cadaver. Surgeons have successfully completed this kind of procedure before, according to the Herald.
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TXT 24
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