Calm Prevails: Earthquake During Vasectomy

“I always get nervous around doctors, especially if it involves a procedure,” says Justin. Like a lot of men, Justin was worried his vasectomy might hurt. What he didn’t worry about, however, was the possibility of an earthquake in the middle of it.

Here’s what happened.

Justin arrived at MidLantic Urology’s Mason’s Mill location for his 10:00 appointment. Dr. Steven Hirshberg gave him a shot to numb the area, and by 10:10 started the vasectomy. “He’s awesome,” says Justin of Dr. Hirshberg. “He told me exactly what he was doing the entire time. That really put me at ease.”

About ten minutes in, Justin says everything started shaking. “The surgical tools on the cart; it seemed like a freight train was passing by.” That’s when Dr. Hirshberg paused and wondered out loud, “Is this an earthquake?” Justin thought he was joking, but it was no joke. Unaccustomed to earthquakes on the east coast, Justin says “Dr. Hirshberg calmly paused and asked the nurse, ‘how long do earthquakes last?’ She thought about a minute or two, and she was right. That’s when the shaking stopped and Dr. Hirshberg got back to finishing up.” The quake registered 4.8 and was centered 40 miles away in New Jersey.

Afterwards the three joked that they would never forget what they were doing during the quake.

Next Justin texted his wife that he was about ready to leave, then tweeted a few friends about what had just happened. “Before I got to the car, my phone was blowing up. And before we got to the pharmacy to get antibiotics, I had reporters calling me.”

Although Justin’s recovery was typical (some pain when the numbness wore off, a full day on the couch, and taking it easy for two more days), unlike most men, Justin spent hours replying to inquiries from reporters. “It got overwhelming; by the second day I decided no more interviews.” When his guest appearance on the Jimmy Kimmel Show was cancelled by the producer when a more important guest became available, a relieved Justin said, “I was totally fine with that!”

Days later Justin says he’s grateful for Dr. Hirshberg’s ability to remain calm during the earthquake, and he’s grateful that several of his friends, and even one radio personality, have scheduled their own vasectomies since his story came out.