USPA swimming

The reports, as CPSC published them

1. Emergency room

   Made Aug 14, 2018 · , sent to the company Aug 22, 2018 · , published by CPSC Sep 6, 2018

   The product, in the report: USPA SwimShorts, American Flag

   My name is [REDACTED], and I am [REDACTED] mother. [REDACTED] is a US Citizen, born on [REDACTED]. I wanted to report a terrifying incident that occurred to our son on the 1st day of vacation in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, Italy. On August 3rd 2018, we came back from the beach at around 7 pm , after we all spent some time between the beach and the sea. We came back to our apartment, as he was touching his penis as if he needed to go to the bathroom. Once we got home, we tried to take off his costume so he could go to the bathroom and then take a shower to wash off all of the salt from the sea. He started screaming in pain and desperately crying asking not to take off his costume. What we saw was something that no parents should ever see in their life. Attached please see the picture that will describe the situation better than any words can.

   We realized that his penis was trapped in net of the U.S. Polo Assn. bathing shorts, also attached in the picture. My husband and I realized that the situation was very serious, as there were also blister that were formed trapped in the net and they were swelling up continuously. Luckily, our car was parked very close to our apartment and thus we rushed to the closest emergency point, which also was luckily only a few miles away.

   Once we got there, the doctor told us that [REDACTED] needed an immediate surgery with no time for anesthetic. Thus he doctor took a scalpel and started to try to cut off the net which was getting tighter and tighter each minute as it was getting more embedded in the skin. The Doctor was worried that the blood circulation was cut off and that it could have damaged urinary tract and/or gone into necrosis of the organ.

   We were shocked and frightened especially since the doctor said that he has never seen anything like this in his long career. It took about 30 minutes, to cut all of the net off as it was tightly engraved in the penis that even with using the scalpel, he was having a difficult time cutting off the net. All of this time our son was screaming in pain and crying, while trying to get liberated from us as we had to hold him still.

   Fortunately, the doctor said we got to him in time, as any additional minute would have meant necrosis and irreversible damage of [REDACTED]’s organ. Right after he cut of the net, our son’s penis was full of blisters that he had to cut open to get rid of the liquid inside to help the healing. He also suggested us to contact an urologist and a pediatrician for a control to make sure that there was no additional damage that he couldn’t see as he is a generic surgeon not specialized in urology.

   Therefore, the day after we found a pediatrician that wasn’t on vacation and agreed to come to our residence to visit [REDACTED]. The doctor reported several wounds along the penis, but couldn’t check the inside of the organ as he didn’t have the right equipment with him. He gave him a therapy for a few days, to help healing of the wounds and recommended us to definitely take him to a urologist once back home.

   Furthermore, we showed him our son’s pictures and he confirmed that the situation was definitely very serious and dangerous as [REDACTED] could have risked the amputation. He told us that in his 40 years of the career, he has never seen or heard anything like and that the “strangulation of the genitals” with a net is the “antique” method used to castrate the pigs.

   In addition, he asked us to see the bathing shorts, and he told us that, in his opinion, the net used and/or the material of the net used is defective. In fact, we compared it to other bathing shorts that we have, and noticed that the net holes are slightly larger than others, in in our opinion, this might be the reason that the incident happened.

   It has been almost a week since the incident, and our baby is still very terrorized by the idea of wearing any bathing shorts. He also continuously asks why did it this happened to him. Why his penis had a problem? Was he a bad boy and his happened to him? He is scared of going into the water, and his parents are still under shock as we see his wound that still haven’t healed and have a difficult time explaining this incident to a 4-year-old son. We are not sure what psychological damage can this have on our son and therefore on us.

   What would like to ask is to immediately check the product and have it re-called to avoid that anything like this can happen to any other boy. In addition, we would like to proceed with a legal action against the manufacturer and or the vendor of this item and ask for the compensation for moral and physical damages.

   UPC

   400168859319

   Serial number

   74299

   Bought from

   Ross

   Bought

   Jun 7, 2018

   Where

   Italy: Other

   Who was involved

   Age 4, Male

   The reporter’s relation to them

   My Child

   As this report names them

   Brand USPA, made or sold by United States Polo Association (Global Licensing Inc.)

   How badly, in CPSC’s words

   Injury, Emergency Department Treatment Received

CPSC’s disclaimer

Sources