August 21, 2018 The death of any child is tragic. But this meme uses names and photos of children in an attempt to frighten parents. A reader might assume that death from circumcision is an occasional - or even common - occurrence, that all the boys on the list were American infants, and that each boy died from circumcision at a modern American medical facility.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
We searched online sources to uncover as much information as we could about each name on the list. It appears that much of the list was compiled from newspaper articles that may have been published before an autopsy or coroner investigation that could provide relevant facts. Several recent names may be based on social media posts.
LEFT COLUMN
RYAN HEYDARI (2013) died in Ontario from excessive blood loss one week after a doctor convinced his reluctant parents to have their son circumcised. A hospital physician failed to recognize that the boy was suffering from hypovolemic shock. JULIUS KATZENSTEIN (1856) and MYER JACOB LEVY (1858) were circumcised by the same mohel; both died of excessive blood loss prior to the American Civil War. ROLAND ALBERT MCCARTY (1932) died from an infection from the circumcision wound. He received early 20th century medical care.
JAMAAL COLESON JR. (2011) was circumcised at 23 months. He was mistakenly given general anesthesia.
BRUCE WECHSLER (1957) developed a staph infection after being circumcised. There was no treatment for a staph infection at the time, and he became severely disabled. Wechsler was living in an assisted care facility in 2010. NUI JIA YUAN (2003) was 4 years old when he was circumcised in Singapore to correct a urinary tract infection. He never regained consciousness and died of asphyxia.
CHRISTOPHER DOLEZAL (1982) was circumcised at 3 months. His parents delayed seeking treatment for heavy bleeding for several hours. An autopsy showed the boy had a broken arm and four broken ribs in various stages of healing. The father was sentenced to 2 years in prison for abusing a child from a prior marriage. STEVEN C. CHACON (1986) died of an infection three days after his circumcision. He was found in a "roach-infested apartment ... strewn with dirty diapers, beer cans, clothes and other items." His drug-addicted parents were charged with child endangerment and involuntary manslaughter. During sentencing a judge declared that "their main concern was not the baby. Their main concern was cocaine and alcohol."
JAYVAS DAVID CARSON (2008) was circumcised at 13 days. He suffered blood loss and died five weeks later.
BOMA ORUITEMEKA (1990) died of hemorrhage in Great Britain.
JEREMIE JOHNSON (1995) was circumcised at 5 years old. A complication involving anesthesia caused his heart and respiration to stop. He was resuscitated, but went into a coma and died one week later.
BRAYDEN TYLER FRAZIER (2013) died at 11 days of generalized bleeding. The physicians and coroner determined that his death was not related to his circumcision. Brayden's family have asked - to no avail - that intactivists stop using his death to further their agenda, and instead let them mourn in peace. DUSTIN EVANS (1998) was circumcised at 3 weeks. Improper healing caused a blocked urethra, and he died from an anesthesia related cause during follow-up surgery.
DEMETRIUS MANKER (1993) was circumcised at 6 months in Florida and died two days later from excessive blood loss. Authorities planned to investigate whether he had a rare disease that prevented his blood from coagulating; the result of the investigation doesn't appear to be available online.
GOODLUCK CAUBERGS (2010) died at 4 months in Great Britain of excessive blood loss. A nurse, a Nigerian immigrant, had circumcised him using scissors, forceps, olive oil, and no anesthesia. She was found guilty of manslaughter by gross negligence.
RAJU MIAH (1991) died of narcotic poisoning in Great Britain after he was given a massive overdose of heroin during a circumcision operation. He was 9 years old.
RYLEIGH ROMAN MCWILLIS (2002) was circumcised in British Columbia at 1 month. His parents weren't given post-operative instructions, and he died of severe blood loss.
JOSHUA HASKINS (2010) was born with a congenital heart defect. While recovering from his second heart surgery, he was circumcised. He died of excessive blood loss from cardiac arrest that was unrelated to the circumcision. Intactivists told his griefstricken mother that she deserved for her baby to die.
SABELO MAROTYA (2004) died of blood poisoning at a South African circumcision school. He was 17 years old.
JACOB CHRISTIAN HOLLIDAY (2005) was born with a congenital heart defect. He received two major heart surgeries (including a transplant) by age 2, was then circumcised, and developed a form of cancer known as PTLD.
RIGHT COLUMN
NKHIPHITHENI NEHELULA (2006) was 9 years old when he was illegally circumcised at a South African initiation school. He died of excessive blood loss.
AMITAI MOSHE (2007) died in Great Britain from sudden infant death syndrome that the coroner determined was unrelated to his circumcision.
CELIAN NOUMBIWE (2007) died in Great Britain from excessive blood loss; he was 9 weeks. His parents were encouraged to leave just 10 minutes after the surgery. They were not advised what to do in case of post-operative bleeding, and they were given an incorrect emergency phone number.
OBOSEE PRINCE ASEH (2008) died in Italy at 23 months from hemorrhagic shock after an illegal circumcision performed by an untrained Nigerian woman in unhygienic conditions. Unable to stop the bleeding, his parents waited all night before calling emergency services.
GINO EROJO (2008) was 11 years old when he died from a tetanus infection after a circumcision performed in the Philippines using unsanitized equipment.
ERIC DICKSON KEEFE (2008) died at 6 weeks from excessive blood loss. The South Dakota Indian reservation hospital conducted no post-operative observation period and provided no instructions to his mother.
BRADLEY DORCIUS (2009) died at 7 months, two days after a circumcision and an operation to correct his urine flow.
KAAN OTUK (2009) was circumcised in Turkey at one month to treat a urinary tract infection. He died from an overdose of anesthesia.
SONKE FOCA (2009) was an adult in South Africa who died of dehydration during a circumcision initiation.
MUYODDIN KHAN (2005) was 5 years old when he was circumcised in Nepal; he died of excessive blood loss.
SAIJAD HOSSAIN MIMU (2010) died in Bangladesh of an anesthesia overdose. He was 6 years old.
SIYABONGA RADEBE (2006) was a teenager who was burned and beaten to death at an initiation school in South Africa.
JAMES CONNOR allegedly died in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania in 2011. An extensive internet search failed to find any article, obituary, or blog post that could verify the death of an infant named James Connor or Connor James.
MICHAEL JULIAN BALDWIN (1927) died from hemmorhage following circumcision under early 20th century medical care.
CHINO BURRELL (1974) was circumcised at 7 months to treat phimosis. He suffered heart failure during the procedure and died at a hospital in Ontario.
CALLIS OSAGHAE (2003) was four weeks old when he died in Ireland from excessive blood loss. A Nigerian immigrant with no apparent medical training had used a razor blade to perform an illegal at-home circumcision.
BENNETT NTAZINA (2003) was an adolescent circumcised at a South African circumcision school. He likely died from dehydration.
ANGELO OFORI-MINTAH (2012) died at 4 weeks of excessive blood loss in Great Britain. His mother was instructed to leave the bandage on for 24 hours, but removed it after nine hours. ALLEN A. ERVIN (1992) was circumcised at 4 1/2 months. He suffered brain damage from improper administration of anesthesia, went into a coma, and died 6 years later. ABOU QUIR (2005) apparently was an infant circumcised in Alexandria, Egypt.
Several of the boys were circumcised in developing countries or by immigrants. In some cases, the practitioner wasn't trained or used unsanitary instruments. One boy was murdered before a circumcision ritual. Another became severely disabled, but he survived. Two boys were born with heart defects. Only a few were healthy infants circumcised in the United States with modern medical care.
Circumcision opponents will push back: Why does it matter? Are American babies more important than other babies? Why does the century or the country or the boy's age matter? Doesn't every boy's life matter?
Such complaints miss the point. We are told that infant circumcision is inherently unsafe, but most of these were unusual cases. Intactivists want to frighten parents and vilify American medical associations. But circumcisions performed and treated without the benefit of modern medicine have no relevance to circumcisions performed in modern medical facilities. That would be like using horse-and-buggy accidents to make decisions about freeway travel.
An estimated 1.3 million healthy newborn boys are circumcised before discharge (i.e. during the first two days) from U.S. hospitals each year. The fact that intactivists cannot present evidence of one circumcision death out of more than 50 million such procedures performed since 1968 is edifying. The World Health Organization has estimated the complication rate of newborn circumcision to be 1 in 250; [1] the American Academy of Pediatrics puts the estimate at 1 in 500. [2] And most significant complications are easily treated with immediate medical intervention. [1] Newborn circumcision performed by a trained professional in the United States is a common, routine medical procedure that is extremely safe.
[1] World Health Organization; "Manual for early infant male circumcision under local anaesthesia" p 7; February 2011 "When male circumcision is performed by well-trained, adequately equipped and experienced health-care personnel, these complications are minor and rare, occurring in 1 of every 250 to 500 cases.34, 35 Most of the complications can be easily and rapidly addressed and do not result in significant morbidity or mortality." [2] Susan Blank et. al; "Male Circumcision - Task Force on Circumcision Technical Report"; Pediatrics; September 2012. "Significant acute complications are rare, occurring in approximately 1 in 500 newborn male circumcisions. Acute complications are usually minor and most commonly involve bleeding, infection, or an imperfect amount of tissue removed." #CircumcisionDeaths #CircumcisionKills #117Deaths