April 26, 2007
GOING to an Italian restaurant to have slices of pizza would hardly seem unusual.
But going there with your family to suddenly witness a man slice off his penis is most certainly disturbing.
According to The Sun, a man stormed into a London restaurant and hacked off his manhood in front of horrified diners on Sunday.
The man, said to be a 35-year-old Pole, left blood everywhere after also slashing his wrist and groin area.
It stunned the packed crowd at the 200-seater pizza and pasta restaurant Zizzi in central London. Some fled screaming. Others had to be treated for shock.
A diner, Stuart McMahon, said: 'This guy came running in then charged into the kitchen, got a massive knife and started waving it about.
'Everyone was screaming and running out as he jumped on a table, and dropped his trousers.
'Then he cut it off. I couldn't believe it.'
Police arrived in a few minutes and restrained him with handcuffs. But it was not enough. They needed non-lethal gas to subdue him.
The detached organ was picked up from the restaurant floor and packed in ice before it was sewn back on its owner.
The Royal College of Surgeons confirmed that the re-attachment of his organ is the first such operation in the UK.
After controlling the blood loss, doctors had to repair the blood supply and reanimate the tissue by rejoining the arteries and veins under a microscope.
Top Italian plastic surgeon Dr Nicolo Scuderi said of the operating technique: 'We don't know how much sensitivity and function will be regained.'
The man was described as being in a stable condition in hospital on Tuesday.
Zizzi said the knife-wielder was thought to have no connection to the restaurant, AFP reported.
The chain said in a statement that staff had tried to stop him from entering one kitchen but he ran into a second one, picked up a knife and started his crazed rampage.
The diner remained shut on Monday for a clean-up operation.
The man will be assessed by psychiatrists following treatment for his wounds and is expected to be held under the Mental Health Act for his own safety.