A friendship between two men turned to tragedy when one bit off and swallowed the penis of the other, resulting in likely loss of liberty for one and the unrecoverable loss of manhood for the other.

Marian Milczarek (53) became embroiled in a fight with his best friend, Wojciech Sowinski,who suffered the loss of his penis, having it bitten off and apparently gulped down by Sowinski in the course of their altercation.

The two men began fighting when an argument over a borrowed trailer escalated into physical violence. According to Milczarek: “[Sowinki] began hitting me with a chain and then pulled down my trousers and started biting. It was agony.”

Medical technology has advanced to the degree that a severed penis can be reattached upon successful recovery of the organ and timely surgery.

However, a subsequent search by police and emergency medical staff failed to yield up the missing male member. Police suspect that Sowinski may have eaten it, having probably consumed it during their fight.

“If we’d had the other bit of his penis we could have sewn it back on,” said Dr Adam Domanasiewicz from the hospital in nearby Trzebnica, where Milczarek is recovering.

Sowinski is now facing a 10 year prison sentence for the assault.