In an odd traffic accident between a bus and a motorbike in Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Tan District last weekend, a young man had his testicles cut off from the scrotum after he was hit and dragged by the bus.

The victim was T.P.Y, 25, a resident of the district, who is being treated at the Cho Ray Hospital in HCMC. “Y was hospitalized in critical condition on July 8 after his two testicles were cut off from the scrotum that had been torn, his penis was heavily damaged, and his urinary tract was also cut off, along with some other wounds in other parts of his body,” said Dr. Duong Quang Vu, at the hospital’s Urology Department. Passers-by who witnessed the accident put the young man’s cut-off testicles into a plastic bag and sent it to the hospital along with Y, but doctors said they could not re-connect them to the scrotum.

In most cases in which testicles are cut off in industrial or traffic accidents the organs cannot be re-connected since their tissue can survive for 5 minutes after being cut off from the scrotum, doctors explained.

“We have cleaned the wound, stitched the urinary tract, and treated the torn scrotum skin to use it to cover the penis,” Vu said. After days of treatment and care, Y’s condition improved yesterday afternoon, the doctor said. However, Vu warned that if the scrotum skin that has been used to cover the penis does not grow well in days to come, the hospital will have to perform another operation to ensure the urine excretion function of the penis.

At the hospital, Y told the media that he was riding his motorbike on interprovincial road 10 when he was knocked down by the bus, which then dragged him until he lost consciousness from the extreme pain.

Witnesses said the testicles were cut off as his genital area was rubbing against the roadway.

Y does not yet know about the loss of his testicles, since both doctors and his family have yet to reveal the extent of his injuries to him.