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Rosehearty’s ‘elephant man’ facing scramble to fund Indian surgery

A pensioner cruelly branded a modern-day “elephant man” fears he may have to travel thousands of miles to Asia for life-changing surgery.

Michael Cull says he feels let down by the NHS – and is now planning to launch an appeal to raise money to pay for the vital operation.

The 66-year-old has been living with elephantiasis for the past decade.

The condition – which has caused grotesque swelling in his left leg – is normally only seen in third world countries.

Former Nasa scientist Mr Cull had hoped an end to his ordeal was in sight when he was given a date for surgery at a hospital in Hull.

But the operation was cancelled at the 11th hour and he now faces having to raise £12,000 to travel to India for treatment.

He said last night: “I feel let down by the NHS. Somebody should have noticed this a long time ago.

“The warning signs, when it started swelling around my ankle, should have been a sign to doctors that something was not quite right.

“They should have gone to someone who is a specialist. If there’s no one in Scotland, then it should have been in England.”

The retired computer technician’s nightmare started following a car accident in London. He was later diagnosed as having gross lymphedema.

Despite attempts to halt the tissue swelling with stockings after Mr Cull moved to Scotland, the leg continued to grow.

After contacting former first minister Alex Salmond last year, Mr Cull was referred to a consultant in Dundee, who said he believed he had elephantiasis.

But blood tests at the London Hospital of Tropical Diseases failed to find any trace of the parasite which is the most common cause of the disease.

He had been due to have surgery in October to strip unsightly flesh away from his leg, but the operation was cancelled.

At the time, a spokesman for Hull and East Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust said 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, who stays at Rosehearty, near Fraserburgh, said: “I’ve had nothing done for about two months, and I’m still getting no replies or answers as to why the doctor in Hull pulled out. I think my rights have been violated here.

“I think going private could be the only way, because they can do this in India.

“But I don’t know if the NHS would pay for me to go to India. It would be about £12,000 all-in, that’s including flights and two weeks in the hospital.”

Mr Cull, who has been the butt of “elephant man” jibes when he has ventured outside his north-east home added: “I just don’t know how to go about anything like this.

“I feel I’ve exhausted every other option. So far, we seem to be going round and round and round in a loop and no one seems to be able to give me any answers.

“The fact that it’s getting worse is frustrating. It’s starting to weep quite a lot, and there’s fluid discharging. There’s a real serious risk of infection now.”

“If I have any accident, it bleeds badly and I have to go to the hospital to have dressings put on.”

A spokeswoman for NHS Grampian last night that the health board had contacted Mr Cull in February to outline a way forward.

“NHS Grampian remains fully committed to offering Mr Cull appropriate treatment,” she added.

“If any patient has concerns about their treatment they should contact the individual, such as a GP, or organisation, such as a health board, in the first instance.”