Credit: ITV
Man Shares ‘Wake Up Call’ Sign He Ignored Before Needing Four Inches Amputated
A British man ignored worrying signs, which led to him getting four inches amputated.
Steven Hamill, or ‘Stumpy’ as his friends like to call him, was 26 years old when his misdiagnosis led to a near-death experience.
He’s now spreading awareness about the rare but awful disease, which is every man’s worst nightmare.
The first bleed
Hamill first noticed something was wrong when he went for his morning wee and noticed his p**** was ‘very swollen.’
On ITV’s This Morning, he said his initial reaction was ‘hmm, what’s this?’ before he ‘did what every guy would probably do, ignore it, hope it goes away itself, and then we’ll see what happens.’
He then went downstairs to make a cup of tea, when he ‘felt something wet’ in his lower body.
To his shock, he looked down to see his feet, the floor, and even the kitchen cupboards covered in blood.
Hamill told ITV hosts Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley: “That’s when I thought, ‘Do you know what? I need to go and get this checked.’
“In my head, I didn’t even know p***** cancer existed at this point, so I was, like, very… don’t know what’s going on, but something isn’t right. So that was the big wake-up call for me to be like, ‘Do you know what? I’ll go and see a doctor now.”
On his visit to the doctor, he was told: “It can’t be p***** cancer. You’re 26. It only affects men over 50.”
The medical professional instead diagnosed it as ‘a really bad case of balanitis’ and was sent Hamill home with steroid cream.
Balanitis is a condition that causes the head of the p**** to be swollen and sore, per Mayo Clinic. It’s not treated as life-threatening.
He left the doctors in ‘celebration mode,’ relieved to be cancer-free.
But after two weeks of religiously applying the prescribed cream, nothing changed. In fact, the pain got worse.
“The only way I can describe this pain is, if I had a needle and I was just poking at the head consistently every second, like, there was no respite,” Hamill said.
“The only time I got some sleep was when my body just crashed two days later, or I’d have a five-hour bath because the warm water soothed it. The pain was just that horrific.”
But on another visit to the doctors, he was told again it was ‘definitely balanitis.’
The start of the stench
The then-26-year-old began to experience other symptoms when ‘the smell started.’
Hamill described the smell as ‘death,’ which ‘followed’ him around. “It was awful and other people could smell it.”
About a month after his initial balanitis diagnosis, and the day before his sister’s wedding, he passed out in his brother’s car and woke up with ‘blood everywhere.’
But instead of getting urgent medical care, he was determined not to miss his sister’s big day, and relied on an ‘adult incontinence pad’ (an adult nappy) and ‘pink gin’ to get him through the evening.
Emergency operation
After finally seeking more medical help, Hamill was immediately transferred to a cancer specialist unit at a hospital in Manchester.
The end of his manhood had been eaten away by the aggressive cancer, which had caused the bleeding.
He described it as having ‘a big crater in it,’ with a similar appearance to a banana that had been bitten from underneath.
Hamill was told the extent of the damage meant he’d need a circumcision.
But after the procedure, he was told he was going to need more than just a trim.
It was going to be more like four inches.
He recalled his urologist straight up saying: “‘This is bad … I’m going to try and save as much as I can because of your age … Go home, enjoy yourself for two days because your life’s going to change dramatically.’”
Life post-amputation
Seven years later, the now-33-year-old told This Morning presenters that his life has actually gotten better.
“I see life in a different way now,” he explained.
“I’m a strong believer in: you can’t move forward if you keep looking back.”
Though he admits dating has its ‘ups and downs,’ he said his relationships now are ‘a lot more intimate, a lot more connected, which I would probably say makes me a better person.’
He chose not to have reconstructive surgery, because doctors said it could risk him losing even more sensitivity.
And, as he put it on This Morning, he was left with ‘more than enough to work with,’ describing his pre-operation self as “blessed, shall we say?”
Hamill also proved his point when he became a father for the first time, just three years after the amputation.
Raising awareness
After appearing on ITV‘s programme, the public have praised the 33-year-old for raising awareness of the taboo condition.
One YouTube user commented: “It takes guts to be able to share your personal story. Thank you for your openness and potentially helping save the lives of others.”
While another applauded his attitude, saying: “I totally understand your change in thinking. Trauma changes you and when you come out the other side you are a totally different person. Acceptance is massive. Well done.”
“I had never heard about this so big thanks to this chap for raising awareness,” one said.
P***** cancer is a rare disease, accounting for fewer than 1% of cancers.
The American Cancer Society estimates there were about 2,260 new p***** cancers diagnosed in the US in 2026.
However, an investigation by the BBC revealed that the number of cases is rapidly rising around the world.
Their research in 2024 predicted cases would surge by 77% in the next 26 years.
While there’s no clear cause of the cancer, the Moffitt Cancer Center explains that some experts believe ‘tumors may form when bodily fluids become trapped’ under the protective skin.
Therefore, uncircumcised men and those who practice poor genital hygiene are thought to be at greater risk.
On This Morning, Hamill’s surgeon Arie Parnham said most people experience p***** cancer in the head of the p****, though it can be ‘hidden’ under the skin covering the tip.
Signs of the cancer include red patches on the skin, masses or growths, changes in color, or bleeding.
Parnham reiterated any changes in the p**** should be checked out by a doctor.
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