A FORMER Goodwick man, whose life-changing surgery in America was paid for by friends and family after his insurance company refused to fund it, has thanked all those who supportted him.

Silfan Rhys-Jones was diagnosed with a dangerous abdominal condition called mid-gut volvulus during a trip to the States earlier this year.

He needed a £188,000 operation before he could fly home. After his insurance company refused to pay for it friends and family came to his aid with loans.

Silfan’s friend, Romy Norich, then set up a gofundme page to help him repay as many of the loans as possible. This has raised £43,130 in just a month.

“This has been the most challenging and uncertain time of my life for sure, which makes it all the more surreal how fortunate I am to find myself sitting here now doing well in recovery and relieved to have had the needed surgery,” Silfan posted on social media.

“I can only say that this positive outcome is due to all of you. I am mind blown and touched to my core with gratitude for your immense help, care and love. I just feel so utterly fortunate and grateful to you all. Thank you with all my heart.”

Silfan said that the doctors are happy with the way things are progressing and he will soon be able to travel and continue recovering at home. He paid tribute to his surgeon and the medical team that had made his recovery possible for the outstanding care he had received.

He also thanked friends all over the world for their support, physically, emotionally and financially.

“Thanks to all of your incredibly generous loans and donations, I was able to pay for the surgery just days after friends started the crowdfunding campaign,” he said. “This enabled me to begin preparing for the operation in peace.

“Even people I don’t know contributed to help me. Your unbelievable kindness with the crowd funder will allow me to pay a portion of the loans back straight away, which in a couple of cases is very important and it’s a relief for me to be able to do that.

“The larger loans were not only offered unhesitatingly but were insisted upon, with nothing but the wish for my wellbeing. I am just so touched and thankful to you. I have never conceived of an amount of money like what was raised and I am still in shock that, thanks to all of you, it actually happened.

“I want to reassure you all that I don’t feel weighed down by the loans, and I feel confident that I will find the appropriate solutions/ways to increase my income in order to be able to repay them over time, especially now I am likely to be in good health, equipped with my newly improved, high tech, titanium reinforced, blinged-up bowels.

“If any one of the above ways you have all supported me had not happened, it would not have been possible for me to have this surgery. I cannot thank you all enough.”