Ex-MP Lembit Öpik to have op on 'wonky' face - and 'hopes to look like George Clooney'
Former Montgomeryshire MP Lembit Öpik will have cosmetic surgery on his "wonky" face this month.
Mr Öpik, who was the region's Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2010, has joked he hoped the work will make him look like George Clooney.
The 50-year-old suffered facial injuries in 1998 when he fell 80ft in a paragliding accident.
After four years on the NHS waiting list, he will have his op at London's St Bartholomew's Hospital on January 26 – after which doctors have warned he might not even recognise himself.
"They are going to break my face, reconstruct it and when I look in the mirror I will see a stranger," he said.
He added: "I would like to think I'll end up looking like George Clooney. Bart's has the best wonky-face clinic in the country."
The surgery is necessary because the accident continues to impact on his life.
Mr Öpik said: "I am having the operation because I can't eat properly – not for cosmetic reasons.
My teeth have been disintegrating and my jaw needs to be re-set.
"I am hoping it will be one operation and that I am only out for action for a few weeks. It has got to be done. It is a small price to pay for my life being saved."
