Man made famous by 132-pound scrotum dies at 49 after multiple heart attacks

Wesley Warren Jr. died Friday in a Las Vegas hospital



He reportedly had two heart attacks after being hospitalized for complications from diabetes

Warren became famous last summer when a TLC special showed his 132-pound scrotum being surgically removed

A rare medical condition called scrotal lymphedema caused his scrotum to swell to the huge size



The man made famous last year by his 132-pound scrotum has died after multiple heart attacks.



Wesley Warren Jr, 49, from Las Vegas, was hospitalized this week after complications from diabetes, he passed Friday after suffering two heart attacks while in treatment, a friend told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.



Warren shot to infamy after a TLC special showed a doctor removing his massive scrotum which enlarged because he suffered from a rare medical condition called scrotal lymphedema.

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Passed away: Wesley Warren, shown before the surgery to remove his 132 pound scrotum, died Friday after multiple heart attacks

Doctors cited privacy laws in refusing to disclose the cause of Warren's death, but friend Joey Hurtado confirmed to the Review-Journal.

'He was in the hospital for five and a half weeks,; the friend told the paper. 'He had infections that I think were brought on by his diabetes and then he had those heart attacks.'



Warren had been enjoying his new-found freedom in the year since his surgery until his hospitalization this past week, according to Hurtado.



'He had been in good spirits after the operation, traveled around in a new van he bought,' the friend said.



'We went on a trip to Los Angeles from Las Vegas and he was fine. I kept trying to get him to lose weight so he’d be healthier. He’d get depressed sometimes that he wasn’t healthier than he was.'

His ordeal began when he woke up one morning six years ago with a shooting pain in his groin which grew steadily worse as his scrotum became steadily bigger over the following nine months.



Relief at last: A team of four physicians begin the procedure last year to remove the massive scrotum

Mr Warren was left barely able to walk and was often subjected to ridicule and abuse when he appeared in public.

His penis was buried so deeply in the abnormal growth that he was forced to urinate on himself and he was forced to turning hooded sweatshirts upside down and using them as pants.



At one stage he became so desperate he considered selling his testicles on eBay to pay for an operation to remove them.



Fortunately, California doctor Dr Joel Gelman agreed to carry out the 13-hour operation to remove it for free.

Exam: Surgeons examining the swollen scrotum prior to the surgery which caused his weight to drop by 200lbs

Recovery: Warren in his hospital bed following the operation

Into the bin: The outsized scrotum being taken away on a trolley for disposal

The procedure carried out last April, had Dr Gelman and three other physicians cut away simultaneously on the grossly enlarged protective sack of skin and muscles that contained Warren's testicles and penis, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal .

The massive swelling was caused by fluid building up in his scrotum. Doctors had to remove the excess tissue and then completely rebuild his scrotum.



Despite finally being relieved of his burden, Mr Warren was initially unhappy claiming the surgery made his life a misery because it left him with a one-inch penis. He said he would never be able to have a relationship with a woman.

But finally, Warren is feeling optimistic about the future ahead of more surgery later this month and has now revealed how he would one day like to host his own talk show.

A new man: Warren, left, shown with Dr Joel Gelman, who led a team of surgeons and nurses in the life-changing procedure

Struggle: Mr Warren needed a wheelchair to cart the scrotum along a hospital corridor prior to the operation

He told the Huffington Post: 'Talk radio is a longtime love," he says. "And the past few years has given me an awful lot of practice.

'If my life is proof of one thing, it's that anything's possible.'



'It was the worst pain I ever felt in my life,' he told the New York Post . ' It got so bad one day that I stood in my living room and cried. There was a fresh breakage of skin...and it stung to no end.

'I was expecting to be stared at — if you look like a freak you expect people to look at you like you’re a freak,' he said.



Before: Wesley Warren spent five years of his life wearing hoodies as pants, with the hood carrying his enormous scrotum

Painful ordeal: Warren woke up one morning six years ago with a shooting pain in his groin which grew steadily worse, his scrotum became steadily bigger over the following nine months

'I would only get upset when, every once-in-a-while, some person with no manners would stare at me and start laughing and give me that "freak passing by" look.



'That caused me in the past to say a "word" or two with regards to rudeness. 'Besides, I was OK with the stares. That’s what I was expecting.'

Though he initially complained that he was 'still disfigured', he has since become more optimistic about his future.

'I can see a light at the end of the tunnel, but I’m still in the tunnel.'

The extremely rare condition is much more common in Africa and Southeast Asia, where it is caused by parasites, than it is in the western world.

Miserable: Warren expected his life to be transformed after he had his 132 lbs scrotum removed, but he claims the surgery left him 'disfigured'

Talking about his life before the operation he describes himself as a prisoner to his testicles and that the growth ruled his life.



'I could only walk in baby steps – I had to stop every 30 seconds,' he said.

'It was just horrible. I couldn’t get in and out of a vehicle and even then I fell down on to the pavement and it took four grown men to try and lift me up.