For more than a decade, Michael Cull’s life has been made a misery by a mystery disease which has left him with a massive two-stone growth on his leg.
And now the pensioner – dubbed “the Elephant Man” by cruel name-callers – is facing another year of pain after surgery to remove the excess flesh was cancelled at the last minute.
Mr Cull, 66, said he was desperate for his agony to end and pinning all his hopes on a breakthrough in 2015.
“Why should I put my life on hold all the time?” he said.
“I should be out living life, it’s so unfair.”
The retired computer technician from Rosehearty in Aberdeenshire has to have custom-made trousers to cover his left leg, which began to swell following a car accident while he was living in London.
A series of misdiagnoses followed and, since moving to Scotland, the problem has now spread from his toes up to his hip, leaving his leg lumpy and deformed.
After contacting former First Minister Alex Salmond, Mr Cull was referred to a consultant in Dundee last year, who said he thought it was elephantiasis – a disease normally only seen in third-world countries.
However, blood tests at the London Hospital of Tropical Diseases failed to find any signs of the parasite which is the most common cause of the disease.
He had hoped for a reprieve from his life of frustration in October when he was due to have surgery to strip the unsightly flesh away, but the operation was cancelled.
Mr Cull said he was given no explanation for the move, and is now fearful that his health would continue to decline.
“It is ridiculous. It could have been done by now – it’s a big disappointment,” he said.
“I’ve looked at going to India and places like that for surgery, where there’s no sort of waiting list, but I’ve been putting up with this all my life. Why should I have to go abroad to get it done?
“I’m really beginning to think someone has pulled the plug on it.”
A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian said the surgical decision was made by doctors in Hull and insisted the north-east health board was fully committed to offering Mr Cull appropriate treatment.
“We hope to meet with him early in the New Year to discuss the risks and benefits of various options before agreeing a date for any procedure,” she added.
A spokesman for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust said: “We can confirm that Mr Cull was initially assessed here in Hull, however the particular circumstances of this case mean that it is more clinically appropriate, and in Mr Cull’s best interests, for care to be delivered in Scotland.
“Mr Cull has been advised accordingly, and we understand arrangements are being made for this surgery to be conducted closer to the patient’s home.”