Man with 100-pound scrotum REJECTS offers to perform $1 million corrective surgery for free because his giant organ has made him famous
By Michael Zennie
PUBLISHED: 18 June 2012 | UPDATED: 19 June 2012
A Las Vegas man who suffers from a rare condition that made his scrotum swell to 100 pounds is basking in the fame that his giant organ has brought him.
In fact, the attention is proving so intoxicating that Wesley Warren Jr turned down an offer to perform the $1 million corrective surgery for free because he would have had to give up the rights to his story. A second doctor has agreed to waive most of the cost for the procure, but Mr Warren still hasn’t taken him up on the offer.
The watermelon-size scrotum Mr Warren carries between his legs has landed him on the Howard Stern Show and the Comedy Central program Tosh.0 and made him a local celebrity in his hometown.
Fame: Wesley Warren Jr has been on the Howard Stern Show and Tosh.0 and has become a local celebrity because of his 100-pound scrotum
Discomfort: Mr Warren cannot urinate like a normal man and must wear a hoodie for pants to conceal his enormous genitals
Firecracker Films, the company behind ‘Big Fat Gypsy Weddings’ has already signed a contract to make a documentary about him.
He also shot a segment for TLC.
When Mr Warren spoke with a reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal in October, he became emotional as he described the pain and humiliation of carrying the deformed genitals. He said he suffered from deep bouts of depression and health complications.
He must wear a hooded sweatshirt on his legs when he’s out of public to contain his enormous scrotum. His penis is buried so deeply in the abnormal growth that he is forced to urinate on himself.
He only wanted, he said six months ago, to urinate like a normal man and have a romantic relationship with a woman.
Refusing treatment: Mr Warren turned down an offer by the Dr Oz Show to pay for the surgery because he didn’t want to give up the rights to his story
Mr Warren, 47, claimed he was going public to raise money so he could afford the operation — which would require a trip to a special surgeon at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical Center.
‘I don’t like being a freak, who would?’ he told the Review-Journal.
Fast-forward six months after Mr Warren’s story spread across the globe. He grinned as he told the same reporter about his appearance on Tosh.0.
‘It was fun going to Los Angeles in the big van they sent for me,’ he said.
Most disturbing, is his reaction to an offer he received from Dr Mehmet Oz, the celebrity physician whom Oprah made famous.
Mr Warren claims the Dr Oz Show said it would pay for the entire surgery at a top-notch hospital. However, the show would keep exclusive rights to tell Mr Warren’s story.
Basking in fame: Mr Warren said he didn’t want to become a spectacle. But now, he seems to have embraced his celebrity
He said he didn’t take the TV program up on its offer because Howard Stern wanted him on his show again.
The stars in Mr Warrens eyes might not be the only thing holding him back, though.
The surgery is highly complicated and he fears he could die on the operating table.
The massive swelling is caused by fluid building up in his scrotum. Doctors must remove the excess tissue and then completely rebuild his scrotum.
There’s also a chance, and not a small one, that complications could force the surgeons to cut off his penis and testicles if his scrotum won’t stop bleeding.
Fear: Mr Warren said he is also afraid of dying on the operating table or losing his penis and his testicles if the complex procedure goes wrong
Dr Joel Gelman, a University of California, Irvine surgeon, who has ‘never lost a patient or a testicle’ while performing the operation has offered to fly to Nevada and perform the procedure for free, as well, the Review-Journal reports.
Mr Warren still hasn’t followed through with Dr Gelman.
The extremely rare condition, called scrotal elephantiasis, is much more common in Africa and Southeast Asia, where it is caused by parasites, than it is in the western world.
Mr Warren says he contracted it somehow when he hit his testicle with his own leg while turning in bed one morning…..