Man's appendix ruptures a month after it was 'removed' in hospital

A man suffered a ruptured appendix a month after it was supposed to have been removed in an operation. Mark Wattson, from Swindon, Wilts, had two appendectomies in a month after doctors failed to remove the appendix at the first attempt.

He claims that he lost his job because his employers did not believe that he needed to have the operation twice. Mr Wattson, 35, had his first appendectomy on Tuesday, July 7, after being told that his appendix was the cause of abdominal pain he had suffered for several months.

He said that doctors informed him that the procedure had gone well. He was discharged the next day. Yet a month later, Mr Wattson was taken to hospital after collapsing in Swindon town centre.


Photo from here.

He was told by doctors at Great Western Hospital – where his original operation had taken place – that his appendix had burst and that he needed an emergency appendectomy. He was readmitted for surgery and released following the second – successful – operation on August 9.

"I couldn't believe what I was hearing," Mr Wattson said. "I told these people I had my appendix out just four weeks earlier but there it was on the screen for all to see. I thought: 'What the hell did they slice me open for in the first place'?"

Mr Wattson said he was considering taking legal action against the hospital in order to gain compensation. He said that he was concerned surgeons may have removed another part of his body during the first operation. "I have no idea what they have taken out but I want to find out what went wrong," he said.