Liver transplant 'wasted'

The daughter of a mentally ill man, formerly from Mid Wales, has accused the NHS of wasting a liver transplant on her father after he tried to commit suicide.

David Woods, 56, originally from Llansantffraid, now living in Cambridge, had liver transplant surgery earlier this year.

But his daughter Nadine Woods, 29, has criticised the NHS for giving him the transplant after he tried to commit suicide in 2006.

She said her father has the mental age of six following the suicide attempt, but doctors at Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, went ahead with the surgery on the advice of a psychiatrist.

She believes the healthy liver should have been used to save the life of another patient rather than keeping her brain-damaged father alive. She said: "I never wanted to lose my dad but I also never wanted him to be saved. If they had asked the family, who care and know him, we would have asked for him to be put to rest.

"My dad has not had a day's happiness since the operation. There has not been one day when he thought 'I am glad to be alive'. All he thinks about is wanting to die. He is obsessive about it.

"It is shameful that a donor has wasted his liver and it's horrible to think someone else could have been enjoying a healthy life."

Mr Woods suffered mental health problems following a painkiller overdose in December 2006. He spent six weeks in a coma after his transplant operation and suffered brain damage.