Maurer gained global attention after he was diagnosed with a rare condition called scrotal lymphedema, which caused his scrotum to swell to massive proportions.
Maurer once described the discomfort he experienced on a daily basis as akin to having ‘three bolling balls’ swinging between his legs. The handicap meant he couldn’t do basic tasks, or work, or have sex with his wife Mindy for seven years.
Mindy told media at the time that it was shortly after the couple were married in 2005 while on a ‘little romantic getaway’ that they noticed Maurer was ‘puffy’ around the scrotal area.
‘We just wrote it off as him being heavy, and he said he’d just lose some weight and it would go away.’ But things didn’t get better, and over the next year his scrotum grew to the size of a coconut. By that time he was going out less, and wore bigger shorts in an effort to cover it up.
Using the toilet was also a difficult proposition, with Maurer having to resort to using the shower to relieve himself. It wasn’t until he saw a show on US cable TV network TLC featuring Wesley Warren, a man who developed a whopping 60 kg scrotum, that he started to reach out and seek help.
Finally, a cure for Dan
Later in 2014, following a formal diagnosis, he was able to undergo surgery to remove the mass. A team of eight surgeons and 14 support staff performed the gruelling 14-hour surgery, removing 36 kg from biological material from his scrotum, and a further 31 kg of fat from his belly. The surgery was a success, and Maurer was able to resume normal day-to-day activities.
Dude, this is nuts!! pic.twitter.com/Yey1lvU7nK
— AlphaFo𝕏 (@Alphafox78) October 19, 2023
