Wrong Cut: Botched Circumcision Sends 3 Indigenous NT Teens to Hospital

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The debate over whether boys need to be circumcised or not was given another anti-argument after three indigenous Northern Territory teenagers were recently hospitalised over a botched ritual circumcision.

The three belong to 20 boys whose foreskin were cut on Dec 23 near Borroloola, located 700 kilometres east of Darwin.

ABC identified one of the victims as Bryce Miller, 17, who sought his grandfather's permission to join the ritual circumcision. It was his grandfather, William Miller, an ambulance driver, who rushed him to a heliport for airlifting to a hospital.

Bryce recalled that when he was cut, blood squirted on the wrong side, causing him to spill a lot of blood.

While medical instruments from the local health clinic were used in the ceremony, as mandated by Health Department guidelines, like it was done in previous circumcision rites, the clinic's nurses and doctors were not present in the pre-Christmas event.

Although the NT government's Department of Children and Families and two police officials had investigated the incident, it said the damage caused on the male teens do not constitute child abuse. The probers explained that the boys were not harmed, based on the definition spelled out by the Care and Protection of Children Act.

The indigenous elder said the injuries could have been caused by a visiting family member who is still learning how to circumcise, which involves removing the foreskin of the penis.

Bryce, the victim, does not regret joining the rite which was his entry point to manhood, but his grandfather said it would be the last time a family member would take part in the ritual again. The younger William's private part has recovered from the wrong cut.