Scots 10k runner "too fat" for hip operation forced to go to Lithuania

Former rugby player Richard put weight on in the year he waited for a consultation and was then kicked off the list

A man suffering excruciating pain was forced to seek a hip replacement in Lithuania after surgeons in Scotland said he was too fat to have the operation.

Former rugby player Richard Bovill, 55, had suffered pain for three and a half years before he resorted to taking drastic action just before lockdown in March and flew to the Baltic State.

The day after his operation he was back walking with crutches but the day before he was in a wheelchair.

He had suffered pain for three and a half years but prior to that he was extremely fit, running 10k every day.

Richard explained: “In September 2010 I began to notice a twitch in my leg which got worse and worse and worse. I went to the doctor and he sent me for a scan where it was discovered I had arthritis.”

His right hip was particularly bad but there was also some in the left hip.

He should have seen  consultant within a few weeks but it was more than a year before he got to see someone.

By that time, because of the pain, he had become inactive and had put on a bit of weight. But he did not appear to be obese and a lot of his bulk was muscle he had built up through years of playing rugby and running.

However, he was told by his consultant his BMI was too high to perform the operation and it needed to be under  35.

Richard said: “The BMI scale was invented in 1830 when people had an entirely different build. There is no way any rugby player today would get under a BMI of 35. I am never going to be at that level.

“It is just an excuse for surgeons to get people off the waiting list  but it is discrimination.

“I don’t drink or smoke or take drugs and I am a vegetarian so I would be much less of a risk that someone else.”

Richard was never given any dietry advice or given a follow up appointment and his condition got progressively worse. All his GP could recommend were increasingly strong painkillers which caused him to feel dozy.

He had his own cleaning business but, unable to work because of his condition, that folded.

He said: “I was in so much pain I wanted to die. I did not want to live with the prospect of spending the rest of my life in a wheelchair.”

About a year ago he met his partner Dawn McDonald, 53, who was a sister at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital and had 33 years nursing experience. Dawn had to give up work because of medical problems of her own but she knew how he looked did not match his BMI so she encouraged Richard to fight for the operation.

By the time Richard saw another consultant in January he was no longer able to bath or shower himself and Dawn even had to put on his socks for him.

He said: “When I got the consultation I was full of hope but when I went into the room it wasn’t the consultant who came in but his registrar.

“She said my BMI wasn’t exactly right but said having seen my build she could not see any reason the operation couldn’t go ahead. She went to speak to the consultant and when he came in the room he was angry and just said ‘you are not getting it’. He also said he was in charge of the private hospital in Glasgow where they do hip operations and said I would never get ot there either.

“I was crying. I had to  leave the room. The thought of spending the rest of my life in a wheelchair was too upsetting.”

He made up  his mind he was going to travel to Dignitas in Switzerland to end his life.

Dawn was so concerned he would carry out this threat that she hid his passport and began researching alternatives.

She managed to book him into a hospital in Lithuania who charged £7,500 to do the operation.

Richard managed to scrabble together the money and, in tears, he recalled: “I got the operation. Now I can walk round the block on my crutches but in a month’s time I will be perfect.”

But he said angrily: “The consultant is God. Everyone has to abide by what he says. But he doesn’t care he is sentencing you to a life in a wheelchair.”

Dawn said: “Richard is very muscular. He is never going to be a skinny guy but he is not obese.

“I can’t understand why the operation couldn’t be done here but it was done without any problem in another European country. They just used his BMI as an excuse."

A spokeswoman from Greater Glasgow & Clyde Health Board said: “All decisions to offer surgery will be taken by the anaesthetist and surgeon based on a patient’s individual health circumstances and balance of risks.

“There is evidence that a BMI over 30 begins to increase risk of complications during surgery including risks of airway/breathing complications under general anaesthesia and complications such as infection.

“If there is a view that the patient outcome may be adversely impacted they may be referred to a weight management programme as the risk of complications with their surgery may be reduced if they lose weight and it is a patient’s choice whether or not to engage with the programme.

“No patient will be refused surgery if surgery is essential, even if they are overweight.”