A 67-year-old man who suffered living with a football-sized hernia has told of his relief after surgeons managed to fix it.
When Glenn Williams coughed, his hernia would swell to 20cm x 30cm - around 10 times the size of a usual hernia, making his life a misery.
He was left with the hernia following complications that resulted from bowel cancer surgery - but now things are finally looking up.
Mr Williams, from Leicester, said: "At last I can look in the mirror again and not find my reflection repulsive.
"I am over the moon - having a normal body not having people stare at me is just amazing."
He added: "I thought the hernia was just something I would have to live with after my bowel cancer operation.
"It was highly embarrassing and depressing.
"If I coughed and when I was standing my stomach shot out like a football.
"I had different belts to try and keep it in but nothing worked.
"People accused my of shoplifting, they thought I was hiding something.
"On another occasion when I had my Jack Russell terrier with me someone asked why I hadn't given him the football and someone even asked when my twins were due.
"It was awful."
But he was offered some hope after seeing his surgeon in the summer.
Eventually he was referred to consultant plastic surgeon Graham Offer, who used a new procedure combining three different techniques to fix the problem.
Mr Offer carried out the six hour operation, which involved splitting the muscle layers of the abdomen and moving them over each other.
The surgeon, a specialist in complex abdominal wall re-construction, said: "Glenn's hernia was the biggest we have ever operated on.
"It was one of the biggest ones you can get. We had to close the 20cm x 30cm gap in the abdominal wall."
He added: "A few years ago hernias like Glenn's would have been inoperable.
"I brought together the three main hernia surgery techniques used in abdominal wall reconstruction and developed a method to combine them which means we can now operate on patients who would otherwise have been told nothing could be done."
Nearly 20 other operations to fix "giant" hernias have now been carried out at Leicester's hospitals.
Mr Offer has also been asked at speak at an international conference in India about the technique.
When Glenn Williams coughed, his hernia would swell to 20cm x 30cm - around 10 times the size of a usual hernia, making his life a misery.
He was left with the hernia following complications that resulted from bowel cancer surgery - but now things are finally looking up.
Mr Williams, from Leicester, said: "At last I can look in the mirror again and not find my reflection repulsive.
"I am over the moon - having a normal body not having people stare at me is just amazing."
He added: "I thought the hernia was just something I would have to live with after my bowel cancer operation.
"It was highly embarrassing and depressing.
"If I coughed and when I was standing my stomach shot out like a football.
"I had different belts to try and keep it in but nothing worked.
"People accused my of shoplifting, they thought I was hiding something.
"On another occasion when I had my Jack Russell terrier with me someone asked why I hadn't given him the football and someone even asked when my twins were due.
"It was awful."
But he was offered some hope after seeing his surgeon in the summer.
Eventually he was referred to consultant plastic surgeon Graham Offer, who used a new procedure combining three different techniques to fix the problem.
Mr Offer carried out the six hour operation, which involved splitting the muscle layers of the abdomen and moving them over each other.
The surgeon, a specialist in complex abdominal wall re-construction, said: "Glenn's hernia was the biggest we have ever operated on.
"It was one of the biggest ones you can get. We had to close the 20cm x 30cm gap in the abdominal wall."
He added: "A few years ago hernias like Glenn's would have been inoperable.
"I brought together the three main hernia surgery techniques used in abdominal wall reconstruction and developed a method to combine them which means we can now operate on patients who would otherwise have been told nothing could be done."
Nearly 20 other operations to fix "giant" hernias have now been carried out at Leicester's hospitals.
Mr Offer has also been asked at speak at an international conference in India about the technique.
Music: Spellbound by Kevin MacLeod
Source: Mirror , DailyMail, Sun
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