A young couple’s two weeks of passion in the sun quickly turned to pain following an excruciating bedroom injury, which ended up throwing cold water over their holiday and, ultimately, their entire relationship
As she jetted off on holiday with her then-boyfriend, Harriet Smith* had no idea that their dreamy trip would result in an x-rated injury – and, ultimately, the death of their once-sizzling sex life.
Celebrating the end of their finals, the students, then in their early 20s, were in a jubilant mood as they landed in Tunisia for what should have been a blissful two-week break. They enjoyed plenty of romantic moments both inside and outside the hotel room as they looked ahead to a “new chapter.”
But then, around halfway through the holiday, a wince-worthy bedroom blunder through cold water over their dreamy getaway.
One night, after enjoying dinner and a few drinks together, things became especially steamy between the pair, who were still very much in their “honeymoon period”. Sadly, this “night of passion” would be their last.
Speaking with the Mirror, Harriet recalled how, “right in the middle” of their intimate moment, her poor other half began “howling” in pain, screaming out, “Oh, god, oh god.” As Harriet herself put it: “It wasn’t even post coital, it was mid coital.”
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Harriet, from the Midlands, told us: “I just remember him howling out and just thinking he was joking and like hopping around and then thinking, ‘S*** this is serious’.”
They immediately ceased their amorous antics. It was dark, and so the issue wasn’t immediately clear. Then Harriet realised what had happened. She revealed: “His foreskin had gotten stuck, and he couldn’t move it.”
Looking back more than 20 years on after the agonising blunder, Harriet, now 47, reckons their wild bedroom antics contributed to the horror injury. And their ordeal was far from over.
A “private” sort of person, Harriet’s partner was deeply “embarrassed” as he headed to A&E by himself, having to deal with the additional hurdles of being far from home, in a land where he didn’t speak the language.
Worried Harriet waited in their room for news. He arrived back around two hours later, with doctors having given him something to numb the excruciating pain. From that point on, however, it was clear that the second half of their holiday would be far less idyllic than the first.
Harriet shared, “It just obviously significantly impacted the rest of the holiday. There are before-and-after pictures where we’re smiling on camels and looking really loved up, and then there’s the after pictures where he just looks in pain, and he probably was.”
While the first week of their trip was spent camel riding, trying out extreme sports, and exploring local cities, the second was far more low-key, with plenty of relaxing by the pool and chaste early nights. Naturally, sex was off the table for the rest of their stay, with Harriet’s boyfriend being scared to even hug her or become “aroused” in any way.
When they returned to the UK, Harriet’s partner had to have an operation. It would be “at least six weeks or two months” until they slept together again, which, as remarked upon by Harriet, “is quite a long time when you’re 21”. She added: “Honestly, it was never really the same again”.
As well as physical intimacy falling flat, Harriet also found that her partner was too humiliated to discuss the issue with her and, even though she was “very sympathetic”, there wasn’t really much she “could do to help”.
They stayed together for about another year after the Tunisia incident, and, looking back, Harriet believes the injury ultimately spelt doom for the relationship. She reflected: “It was always something. I was worried about hurting him. So I think it really took the wind out of our sails.
“It was a real passion killer. And I think he probably had that association with me that, you know, although it could have happened to anyone at any time, it happened to us. I don’t think it just ruined the holiday, I think it was probably not a relationship killer, but certainly quashed things in the bedroom.”
Until now, Harriet, who fortunately hasn’t been put off sex in the long run, has kept her story secret and has only ever confided in a few very close girl pals.
For a while, she’d “forgotten about it”, having “blocked it out”. However, being a mum of teenage boys has made her sympathise with her former beau’s plight all over again.
Harriet empathised: “I just think, ‘Oh my god, poor thing’. You know, that’s your nightmare as a man to have something like that happen!”
Nowadays, Harriet is no longer in touch with her ex, who now lives overseas with his wife and children. As far as she’s aware, there doesn’t appear to have been any lasting damage to his private parts.
She noted: “Obviously, the fact that he’s been able to have children, he’s sorted that out then. I mean, that obviously didn’t cross my mind at the time, but yeah, you know, everything’s in working order.”
*Names were changed in this story
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