Dad of seven Kelvin “Kelly” Hewitt is still too traumatised to help police find who severed his penis in a horrific attack.
The 40-year-old builder is feared to be the victim of a sick revenge mutilation.
But friends and family were still baffled by the incident as police continued hunting for Kelly’s missing manhood.
The father of at least seven children by three different women was wounded before being dumped from a vehicle by the A66 near Middlesbrough on Thursday.
He is thought to be in a relationship with a woman called Carla Hill, who has two daughters by him. Ex-partner Debbie Lewis, mother of four of his children, said: “They’re devastated. I’ve had two in tears since all this came out.”
Originally from Redcar, Kelly moved on to a travellers’ site at South Bank around six years ago. A corden around a blood-spattered caravan, believed to be the attack scene, was removed yesterday.
One family friend said: “Kelly’s a good dad and a decent bloke. He’s a hard worker and he loves his kiddies, he is devoted to them. There’s no reason to go after him like this, it’s barbaric.
“He’s often in South Bank because even though he’s on the travellers’ site he’s a local bloke and is from a big family that grew up in Redcar and Dormanstown.
“People are speculating about reasons that someone would do this to him but there’s nothing sinister about him. He’s a family man and whoever did this needs locking up for a long, long time.”
Police found Kelly blood-soaked and in severe distress at the side of the dual carriageway. But he was in such extreme pain that he was unable to speak to officers. He then passed out at James Cook hospital with shock and blood loss.
Kelly regained consciousness briefly from an induced coma yesterday, but detectives were unable to question him.
Daughter Leanne Trewitt, 22, from a third partner, wrote on Facebook: “My dad’s stable now just hoping for a speedy recovery. Love you papa smurf!”
He now faces a prolonged period of recovery, and months of plastic surgery.
A Cleveland Police spokesman said: “We were unable to carry out a detailed interview. Officers hope to speak to him to establish how injuries were sustained.”
