mmalabanan
A 25-year-old man from Australia suffering from a rare condition desperately needs surgery for his scrotum which has swollen to the size of a watermelon. It now weighs 5.44 kg.
Tyrone Bowd, a man diagnosed with autism and developmental delay as a child, apparently suffers from scrotal lymphedema that caused his scrotum to grow from the size of a mango to a watermelon in a span of two years.
Apparently, his lymphatic vessels became blocked, causing tissue and fluid to accumulate in the skin around his testicles.
Because of his enlarged testicles, walking became extremely difficult for Bowd. Moreover, he had been repeatedly brought to the hospital due to bacterial infection.
His mother Tanya revealed how Bowd’s condition prevented him from living a normal life.
“Tyrone’s scrotum has continued to grow. He’s got to walk with his legs apart. The scrotum has reached below his knees now. It bangs around on the back of his calves when he’s trying to walk,” Tanya said.
Dr. Joel Gelman, a urologist from California explained that scrotal lymphedema can cause a patient to lose his ability to walk normally. Moreover, he stressed that the condition can affect them physically and emotionally.
Based on Bowd’s medical reports and images, Dr. Gelman believes that Bowd’s condition can still be treated since it isn’t as advanced as his other patients.
But in order to be treated, Bowd’s family needs to raise $100,000 to cover their travel expenses from Australia to California in the US. As of this writing, the family has raised $60,000 through fundraising events.
“The scrotum is getting so big that he must be in a lot of pain. We just want Tyrone to get better. We want our Tyrone back,” Tanya added.
