John Wayne Bobbitt recently lost his toes.
John Wayne Bobbitt recently lost his toes
The 57-year-old former Marine – who made global headlines in 1993 when his then-wife chopped off his penis while he slept – was diagnosed with toxic peripheral polyneuropathy after being exposed to contaminated water at the Camp Lejeune military training facility in the late 1980s.
It’s a condition that causes nerve damage to the extremities and caused Bobbitt to have all of his toes amputated over the years, the last of which were removed in 2023.
The operations have left John Wayne with two stumps for feet, a limp and needing special prosthetic shoes.
He told The US Sun: “Maybe I would have made better decisions if my cognitive functioning wasn’t distorted by the chemicals.”
His condition can also lead to chronic infections, ulcers and painful skin grafts.
His ex-wife Lorena says she cut off his penis after he raped and beat her and in June 1993.
She sliced off his manhood with a kitchen knife at their apartment in Virginia, before fleeing to her boss’ house and tossing the sliced penis out of the window as she drove.
It was salvaged and doctors spent nine hours reattaching it and according to John Wayne it is now back to a “normal” function.
He went on to launch a porn career, and in 2013 claimed he slept with 70 women since his wife’s attack.
But that year he nearly lost a foot after contracting an infection from a dirty nail at a construction site.
John Wayne’s former wife faced up to 20 years in prison for the infamous act but was found not guilty due to insanity and was acquitted on charges of sexual assault in 1993.