A man has been left 'embarrassed to leave the house' after waiting over a year to have a huge hernia removed that makes him look 'nine months pregnant'.
Gary Urien was rushed to A&E at Rotherham Hospital last February after suffering from severe stomach pain that turned out to be appendicitis.
The 46-year-old was left 'screaming in agony, but his wife, Julia, said that it was more than 24 hours before he was taken to surgery.
She told YorkshireLive : "He was in A&E for more than 24 hours and then they took him for an MRI and that's how they knew he had appendicitis.
"Then they cancelled the operation twice and, the third time they came to cancel the operation again, that's when he collapsed because his appendix had burst."
Garry had to be rushed into emergency surgery and was told that he had been "very lucky" as he had "died in surgery" and was brought back to life by doctors.
But, though the operation had been successful at removing Garry's appendix, he was not out of the woods yet.
Following his surgery, Garry's bowels had pushed through his abdominal wall - leaving him with a huge hernia.
Julia, 57, said: "It came to be that the surgeon that actually did the operation on him had not sewn him up properly and all his bowels have come out into his belly, he's an absolute mess.
"This all took place a year ago, 13 months ago, and he's still waiting for his operation. He's having to go to the gym once a week to strengthen his heart and lungs for when they do decide that he can have the operation."
The operation that Garry is waiting for is an abdominal wall reconstruction, which can be a very risky surgery.
But Garry's hernia is so severe that it has left him looking "nine months pregnant", and he is now embarrassed to leave the house because people stare and point, so he is desperate for the surgery.
Julia said: "He looks like he's nine months pregnant, he's absolutely huge. I'm having to go to the second hand shop and get him big trousers that are at least a 54 inch waist; he used to be a 34 inch waist.
"It's horrendous the scar he's got, and his belly button is now on the side of his belly.
"Garry can't even put his own socks on, I have to do everything for him and I'm not well myself. It's made him depressed, it's proper tore him in two that operation."
But Julia said that she is furious that his operation, which would remedy the situation, has not been prioritised due to the Covid pandemic.
She said that there is a chance that his hernia could strangulate which would put Garry in a life threatening situation.
"But this could strangulate and kill him, it's been 13 months now and he's still nowhere near having this operation done", Julia said.
She added: "What it is basically is that he's not as important as someone with coronavirus. There's been a lot of people that have died with coronavirus, but how is this not classed as important, too?
"We just feel like he's been put on a shelf and left, it's not fair."
When contacted about Garry's case, a spokesperson for the Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust confirmed that the coronavirus pandemic has been affecting the allocation of surgeries.
They said: "Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, our surgical team have prioritised those in urgent need of surgery and, as we see a reduction in the number of patients being treated for Covid-19, we are working hard to increase our capacity in order to reduce waiting times for patients awaiting procedures.
"We are unable to comment on individual cases."
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