A four year-old boy has been awarded Sh 3 billion in damages after the tip of his penis was sliced off during a botched circumcision.

The child was given the huge payout after jurors heard how he had been left with physical pain and chronic scabbing following the surgery, which took place when he was just 18 days old.

A nurse midwife accidentally let the scalpel slip and sever his genitals.

Emergency

Rather than recommend emergency surgery which could have lessened the child’s injuries, the nurse and a doctor who worked there decided to store the severed tissue in a refrigerator and send the bleeding baby home.

Afterwards, the boy’s mother said she had to insert an instrument into her son’s penis three times a day to prevent it healing up, the Atlanta Journal-Consitution reported.

Children

He has since had surgeries in Minnesota and Massachusetts which have made it easier for him to urinate.

Doctors think he may be able to have children when he is older, but the boy faces tests when he hits puberty to see if he requires further surgery.