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Bangalore surgeons ensure a new lease of life for Briton

HAPPY: Ellem Parry (second from right), her husband Keith (left), and neurosurgeons, Marthanda Varma and Ravi Varma (right).

London: It cost £ 5,000, but it was well worth everything for grandmother Ellem Parry who travelled to India for an operation after the NHS said they could do nothing to heal her back pain.

Ms. Parry, back at home in Wales, said she had been given a new lease of life by surgeons 5,000 miles away in Bangalore. But her lack of treatment in Britain has sparked angry criticism of the NHS — with one senior politician claiming it ``a savage indictment of a health service in decline.''

The 59-year-old woman, who has three sons and four grandchildren, flew to India after being told by a clinic at Ysbyty Gwynedd that there was nothing they could do for her. She paid £ 480 for a private MRI scan in Bangalore which revealed she had suffered a collapsed disc in the lower back.

Ms. Parry said after suffering for more than a year, her husband, Keith, read about private treatment available in India. She flew out a few weeks later.

Ms. Parry, who runs a garage with her husband in Glan Conwy, was back home in North Wales on Monday night following a successful operation in Bangalore where she was given VIP treatment.

She said, ``It is absolutely fantastic. I just can't get used to not being in pain anymore.''

Her back troubles began two-and-a half-years ago. ``I hadn't any problems before and I went along to see my GP,'' she said.

``I was referred to the pain clinic at Ysbyty Gwynedd but was told nothing could be done,'' she added.

The Parrys got in touch with the Taj Medical Group in Warwickshire. ``We sent them a copy of the scan and they referred my case to surgeons at the Ramaiah Memorial Hospital in Bangalore, which was set up as a trust. I was in e-mail contact with neuro-surgeon Ravi Varma at the hospital,'' she said.

"The operation was carried out by Dr. Varma, and his father, who is a renowned surgeon in India, on November 6, five days after we arrived,'' she added. — UNI

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