Normally, an erection occurs due to physical or psychological stimulation, leading to the relaxation of certain smooth muscles and increased blood flow to spongy tissues in the penis.
But, Stephen’s “never-ending hardness” is due to quite a different story. It is priapism.
Stephen Danquah, a 42-year-old sickle cell patient, is struggling with priapism, a condition that leads to prolonged erections. For two agonizing days, his erect struggle persists, leaving him desperate for relief.
“My penis can be erect for days without falling. It’s so painful I can’t sleep, eat or even pass urine, all I do is cry”.
The Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, once a beacon of hope for him is now beyond reach due to financial constraints.
“No family member wants to get closer to me because of my condition, I need to undergo a surgery else I’ll die one day”.
Unable to afford the necessary treatments has worsened his situation.
“I’ve had suicidal thoughts because I can’t stand the pain anymore. To make matters worse, I sleep on the streets,” he revealed.
With an urgent need for surgery to quell the relentless pain, the procedure may impair his future functionality as a man.
A urologist at Greater Accra Regional Hospital, Ridge, Edward Kofi Boache, points out that a lot of sickle cell patients often deal with priapism issues.
“Priapism can be considered as a type of sickling crises. In our part of the world, majority of the patients we receive with priapism are sickle cell patients”.
He’s concerned that many more children with sickle cell might face risks, given the increasing number of recorded cases.
“I’ve received sickle cell disease patients as young as 15 years who battle priapism often. This is very worrying. As a urologist, when I hear of sickle cell disease, I think of priapism because of the frequency at which patients come with the condition”.
According to him, men brought to the hospital with long-lasting erections may not only have sickle cell, but could also be from those using aphrodisiacs.
“We’re sorry the sickle cell patients who come with priapism cases and the only thing we can do is to let them loose the erection but not cure, because it’s not possible. Some stay home with the erect penis for as long as a week before coming to us, all those patients may not to potent again”.
Priapism does not have a single cause; it can result from various factors like blood disorders like (leukemia), spider bites, scorpion stings, toxic infections, metabolic disorders (gout, amyloidosis), neurogenic disorders (spinal cord injury, syphilis), and cancers affecting the penis.
Priapism can affect females too, presenting as a prolonged and painful erection of the clitoris. This condition, unrelated to sexual arousal, leads to swelling, engorgement, and pain in the clitoral region.
Stephen Danquah, a brave man is not just fighting a health problem, but also the tough life on Accra’s streets. Now, there’s a plea for empathy to help ease his difficult situation.
The post The story of a man with ‘never-ending hardness’ of penis first appeared on 3News.
