Ex-mountaineer’s life ‘destroyed’ by routine op

A victim of Scotland’s mesh scandal has told how a routine hernia operation wrecked his life.

Graham Robertson, 52, a former mountaineer and Duke of Edinburgh Award leader, is the latest man to reveal his plight. Thousands of women have already complained of devastating injuries and painful complications with the transvaginal mesh used to treat prolapse and bladder problems. Male patients are now telling their horror stories after they had the same kind of mesh used to treat hernias.

Mr Robertson, from Bridge of Weir, Renfrewshire, said: “My life has been destroyed by what I was told was a ‘gold standard’ procedure that was supposedly so simple, I didn’t even need an overnight stay to repair the hernia in my groin.

“Within weeks, I was on some of the most powerful painkillers that can be prescribed, and the nightmare has never ended.

“Now I’ve lost my job, I can’t do any of the everyday things I used to take for granted.

“I can’t even pick up my oneyear-old grandson and give him a cuddle.”

Mr Robertson used to run his own furniture firm and thinks years of heavy lifting caused his hernia.

He has been warned that further surgery could have further devastating side effects.