Long Eaton man with five stone lump NHS won't remove was 'waiting for God' after fall

A man with a five-stone lump hanging from his abdomen to his knees thought he was going to die after he couldn't get up from the floor. Alan Bromyard, 48 and from Long Eaton, has lived with the huge lymphedema that hangs down to his knees for two years.

And despite the severe impact it has had on his life and health, Mr Bromyard was told the removal of the lump cannot be funded through the NHS as the surgery is classed as cosmetic. He has been met twice by rejection from the Derby and Derbyshire Integrated Care Board (ICB).

Mr Bromyard previously spoke to Nottinghamshire Live about his condition and how it has been affecting his life, hoping to get the necessary NHS funding for doctors to perform the surgery. Unfortunately, he received no update from ICB and his condition continues to deteriorate.

He said: "On October 27, I woke up to go to the toilet and went lightheaded and fell and wasn't strong enough to get up. I was there on the floor for nine hours until my mum's carers came in.

"I couldn't reach my phone so I was just down there waiting for God to come. If the carers hadn't come or had come later, I would've died. That's what scared me the most. I was on the floor for nine hours and just accepted it."

Mr Bromyard added that he also hurt his ribs and belly while trying to get up a number of times. "I just wasn't strong enough, I was getting weaker and weaker," he said.

He explained that the two paramedics who attended the incident couldn't lift him up and so the fire service was called. Emergency services had to remove his doors, which were later put back in, in order to get him out of the house and take him to hospital.

Mr Bromyard then spent 13 days in ICU with sepsis at Royal Derby Hospital as a result of his condition. This wasn't the first time he experienced sepsis because of the lump, however.

In mid-August, he was in hospital for 14 days, six of which he spent in ICU due to sepsis, which he says was so severe he was a DNAR (do not attempt resuscitation) patient. Mr Bromyard said: "I nearly died then and I've nearly died now, I've had sepsis twice - I need help."

The ex-farmer, who had to sell his herd of pedigree house because of his condition limiting his movement, added that he was also stuck in a chair on the day he was brought back home from hospital on November 8. He said: "The paramedics put me in a chair in my front room when they brought me back home the other day and I couldn't get out of it because the swelling was that big

"It took me about half an hour to get the strength to get out of the chair, I was in a right mess." Mr Bromyard is also a carer for his 85-year-old mother.

"Looking after her is getting harder. I cook for her twice and wash her clothes, it's hard," he said. Mr Bromyard said two funding applications have been rejected despite his surgeon saying he would "thoroughly benefit from the surgery".

Since the rejection in July 2023, Mr Bromyard's surgeon has submitted another funding request, which was turned down in August. Mr Bromyard says his surgeon, his GP and the head of the lymphedema clinic at Nottingham University Hospitals, where he has been receiving treatment, are now preparing a third request.

A spokesperson for NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB previously said: "We cannot comment on individual cases. Some treatments are not normally available on the NHS and in these circumstances people are able to request individual funding requests where a service, intervention or treatment falls outside of existing service provision.

"The application for funding is made by the patient's clinician who is required to demonstrate that the circumstances are exceptional. This decision-making process ensures that each request is considered in a fair and transparent way, with decisions based on the best available evidence and in accordance with our individual funding request policy."

Mr Bromyard has also started a fundraising page in the hopes of getting the money to seek private treatment. To view the fundraiser, click here.