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A man who had an erection for 30 hours has been awarded a hefty sum in compensation after doctors made a serious mistake.

A 36-year-old man from Valenica, Spain, appeared before a health centre in Albaida some four hours after his penis remained erect and failed to come back down, according to reports in Spanish press.

The unnamed man was diagnosed with priapism, which the Mayo Clinic describes as a painful, ‘prolonged erection’ that isn’t always caused by sexual arousal but sometimes can be.

It happens when blood is unable to flow out of the veins of the penis and it requires swift medical treatment to prevent tissue damage or other complications such as erectile dysfunction.

However, despite the diagnosis, the man said in his medical negligence claim that there were severe delays in accessing the treatment he urgently needed and a hospital botched the surgery on his genitalia.

He visited the Ontinyent Hospital twice with his wife, some 20 hours after the problem first started.

The claimant alleges the hospital told him there would be a further wait to see a urologist and so went via a referral to another hospital, the Lluis Alcanyis Hospital in Xativa.

There, he was admitted with a fever, which can sometimes accompany priapism.

As per protocol, doctors drained the blood from his penis and booked him in for an appointment a few days later for a malleable penile prosthesis, a semi-rigid implant that helps men to regain an erection, maintain a sex life and quickly relieve priapism pain.

However, the patient said the prosthesis came out and was ‘poorly fitted’, requiring a second operation.

In his bid for compensation, the claimant said he wasn’t properly treated by the medics across the hospitals and has been left with constant pain followed by complications with getting and maintaining an erection.

He suffers from permanent erectile dysfunction, pain in his left leg and has lost sensitivity and strength in his right arm, reports The Olive Press.

The regional government covering Valenica has since been ordered to pay the man $50,000, and a further $5,000 to his wife in ‘moral’ damages.

The couple said they reportedly endured a ‘lengthy’ four-year battle with their claim to the Albaida and Valencian authorities.

Jorge Sanchez, a urologist who was not involved in the case, told local media: “Four or five hours of priapism can cause damage to the penis tissue and 20 hours later the risk is higher.

“If the erection continues, the only solution is break two tubes in the penis called the corpora cavernosa that fill with blood to make it stiff during an erection.

“If they are ruptured the patient will no longer be able to have an erection and will require a prosthesis”, reports the Daily Mail.