The 67-year-old had suffered two years of misery after complications following bowel cancer surgery left him with a hernia which measured some 20cm x 30cm - around 10 times the size usual size. Mr Williams, from Mowmacre, said: "At last I can look in the mirror again and not find my reflection repulsive. I am over the moon - having a normal body not having people stare at me is just amazing." In the summer last year Mr Williams saw his surgeon who referred him to consultant plastic surgeon Graham Offer. Until a few years ago a hernia the size of Mr Williams' would have been inoperable. But, using a new procedure combining three different techniques Mr Williams has been given his life back. The six hour operation involved splitting the muscle layers of the abdomen and moving them over each other, rather like a sandwich with three layers, on a type of mesh.
