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A man who shed 21 stone after undergoing weight loss surgery says he feels “conflicted” after being told the NHS will not remove his excess skin.

Wayne Shepherd, from March, morphed from 35st 7lb (226.8kg) to 14.3st (91.2kg) after being fitted with a gastric sleeve in June of last year.

The procedure was carried out at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth, a specialist Tier 3 obesity hospital.

"I don’t like looking at myself in the mirror, and I feel like people judge me," says Wayne Shepherd, who has shed 21 stone since last year. (image: SWNS)

The 40-year-old – who was bullied at school for being overweight and had a nervous breakdown aged 10 – was initially elated with the procedure, saying it improved his health “ten-fold.”

“Before I had the procedure I needed a mobility scooter to get around,” he explained: “Now I can walk for miles.”

However, Wayne’s positivity nosedived when he discovered the NHS – despite earlier assurances – would not remove the remaining three stone of loose skin.

“I was promised before I had my sleeve done that they would fund and remove the skin for me when we got to that point,” he said, “But now I am there they won’t fund it.”

Despite lodging an official complaint, Wayne said Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust had been unforthcoming in honouring their original promise.

“They said that their criteria had changed and that's why they can’t do it now.”

Portsmouth advised Wayne to seek funding for the skin loss procedure via his local Integrated Care System (ICS).

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICS stated Wayne did not qualify for funding as his case was not “exceptional” enough, and as such, any skin loss procedure would need to be funded privately.

“I feel like I’ve hit a brick wall,” he said, “Hence the GoFundMe page.”

A despondent Wayne said he feels “massively conflicted.”

“I’m so grateful to the NHS for doing it in the first place,” he said, “but I feel let down because I feel like I was lied to.”

“I thought I was actually coming to the end of the weight problem that’s affected me for 40 years.”“But now I can feel the skin creasing up; it’s a horrible feeling.”

“I’m really struggling with it - I feel like people are judging me.”

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough ICS had been contacted for comment.

NHS refuses to remove three stone of loose skin from Cambridgeshire man who shed 21 stone