Alberthy Camargos took son for routine surgery after being told he needed it

24-year-old said he became suspicious after procedure took four hours, but he was reassured by physician Pedro Abrantes who said everything was fine

When he checked boy's dressing, he found the infant's penis was missing and had been replaced by a rolled-up piece of gauze so it appeared to be bandaged

Mr Abrantes, an experienced surgeon, found dead at home several days later

Alberthy Camargos, 24, has revealed how his three-year-old son had his penis amputated during a routine circumcision

A three-year-old boy had his penis amputated in a botched circumcision performed by an experienced surgeon who was then found dead several days later.

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Father Alberthy Camargos, 24, told how he took his son for the routine operation at a clinic in Malacacheta, eastern Brazil, last month after being advised he needed the surgery.

However, he became concerned after the procedure - which normally lasts 30 minutes - ended up taking four hours.

When Mr Camargos asked physician Pedro Abrantes what had happened, the doctor assured him that everything was fine and his son was healthy.

But when the concerned father went to remove his son's bandages and check on the wound, he discovered that his son's penis had been replaced by a rolled-up piece of gauze.

'I went crazy and dropped to the ground. I went into shock. I tried to move, but I was paralysed and needed to be supported by nurses,' he said.

Speaking about Dr Abrantes's apparent lies, he added: 'I felt disgusted by his answer. They were treating me like a fool and I lost total confidence in the medical team.

'I knew just by looking and from hearing my son's cries of pain and seeing the disorientated state he was in, that the surgery had gone wrong and my son's body had been mutilated.'

Taking matters into his own hands the dad signed a waiver and discharged his son from the hospital the following day.

Mr Camargos said the hospital had assured him the operation went fine, but when he removed his son's bandages he found the doctor had covered up his horrifying mistake

The child was transferred to the Teófilo Otoni hospital, a private unit in a neighbouring city.

There the boy underwent new and detailed evaluations with a paediatrician and urologist.

Both confirmed, after medicating to control the pain and to prevent the spread of infection, that the child's genital organ had been severed.

The diagnosis in the medical report stated there had been 'laceration of the foreskin skin with open and bleeding cavernous bodies (spongy-like areas)… and the inadvertent partial amputation of the penis… (leaving) the base of the penis'.

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The boy has since undergone plastic surgery to protect a length of urethra left behind after the botched surgery, meaning he will not need a catheter.

Mr Camargos, a bank clerk who has custody of his son after separating from the boy's mother, said: 'About a year ago I was told (my son) was suffering from phimosis, where the foreskin of the penis cannot be easily retracted.

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'I was advised that an operation would be simple and straightforward. On the day of the treatment, I left my son in the hospital with my mum as I had meetings at work. When I returned, I realised something was wrong.

'This was a procedure that should have taken about 30 minutes, but it lasted nearly four hours.

'When the doctor took off the first bloodstained bandage there was a kind of rolled gauze underneath that appeared to be covering my son's penis. But when that was taken off there was nothing there but a stump and no visible penis. I went crazy with the shock.'

A spokesperson for Dr Carlos Marx Municipal Hospital said an internal enquiry is underway and the medical team that assisted the doctor is under investigation.

Pedro Abrantes

Pedro Abrantes

The city's health department confirmed it has been providing the family with home visits from a health support team, offering psychological care and working with the father to ensure the child receives all the necessary consultations and medical help needed.

Even so the family is considering taking legal action against the hospital.

The single father lamented: 'The unexpected death of the doctor has robbed us of the one individual who could have given us face to face answers and who might have been held directly responsible.'

A health official said the deceased surgeon had a medical career spanning almost 30 years and there had been 'no records of problems with his professional conduct while working in the public health service'.

Police chief, Mariana Grassi said (to FocusOn News): 'We have collected all the documents surrounding this case and we are now in the process of hearing testimonies from those involved.

'We need to establish whether Dr Abrantes, who died under non-suspicious circumstances, was responsible solely for the medical error or whether other professionals were involved.'

Medical experts said penile reconstruction can involve taking skin from other areas of the body, such as the forearm or thigh, to shape the private parts and make it as realistic as possible.

And because remedial care started before remnants of the organ contracted inside the body, doctors are confident they will be able to preserve erectile tissue which means the boy may be able to lead a normal sex life, experience sexual urges and even father children.

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The child has been discharged and is recovering steadily at home.