‘Angel’ pays £5,000 for Deborah’s op

2:59pm Thursday 18th September 2008

A well-wisher has stepped in to pay for a private tummy tuck operation for a mum-of-three after NHS bosses refused to pay for the treatment.

Deborah Dean has shed nine stone since having a gastric bypass operation at Bradford Royal Infirmary in December 2005.

But Miss Dean, 43, was left with large flaps of excess skin on her stomach which she says has left her feeling like a freak. Despite her distress NHS bosses refused to fund the treatment called abdominoplasty saying it was cosmetic.

“They were not interested and they said there was no funding to do it,” said Miss Dean, of Larch Hill, Odsal, Bradford.

Miss Dean, a care assistant and cleaner, thought she would have to live with the excess skin as she could not raise the £5,500 to have the operation done privately.

However, a male friend seeing her continued distress, has stepped in and paid for the operation to be carried out at Dolan Park Hospital in Birmingham. Subject to final health checks, the operation is scheduled to be carried out at the beginning of October. She hopes to be allowed to come home a few days afterwards and has been told she will only need to take two to three weeks off work.

Despite his generosity Miss Dean’s saviour has declined to be named publicly. “I have known him a long time and I can’t thank him enough – he is an angel,” said Miss Dean. “He is a lovely well-wisher.”

Miss Dean’s weight ballooned after the birth of her son Andrew, now 19, and she put on more weight after a caesarean section when she had her twin daughters Aimmie and Laura, now 15.

After years of dieting and medical advice she was offered a gastric bypass on the NHS when she tipped the scales at 21 stone.

At the time of the operation Miss Dean says she was led to believe she would be entitled to further surgery to remove the excess skin after weight loss but this was not the case.

“It is disgusting now – I have a big piece of skin hanging down my legs and it rubs,” she said. “I can cover it with clothes but when I take them off I can’t bear to look at myself.

“I will feel a million times better after the operation. The doctor has shown me a before and after photo of a previous patient and the results were amazing. I hope I will be like that.

“I have lost nine stone and they think I will lose around a stone and a half with the removal of the excess skin. I can’t wait.”

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