HE feared his obesity would kill him before he was 60 after cash-strapped health chiefs refused to carry out a crucial operation.

But today 20-stone Philip Cooper has fresh hope for the future after being told he can have surgery after all.

The Woodthorpe father-of-two has received a letter saying he is back on the waiting list.

Mr Cooper, 41, said a doctor had told him the surgery, which he thinks will involve a stomach bypass, would give him an extra 15 to 20 years of life. "I'm very happy," he said."It's a good start to the year for me - a bit of a late Christmas present."

The North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust revealed that other patients may also receive the surgery, which was suspended last year while a review was carried out.

A spokeswoman said the trust had now re-commissioned operations for very high-risk patients with exceptional clinical needs.

Change of heart on stomach ops

A FATHER-OF-TWO who was denied life-saving obesity surgery has revealed he is back on the waiting list for an operation to help him lose weight.

Philip Cooper, 41, who feared he could be dead by the age of 60 unless he underwent the surgery, said he believed he would now be able to have a stomach bypass operation.

Philip, of Woodthorpe, York, received a letter about a year ago telling him that North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust had suspended the gastric band operation he had been waiting for, and that he would be removed from the waiting list.

The trust today said it had suspended the commissioning of morbid obesity surgery in 2006 while the service was reviewed.

But it had now re-commissioned the surgery, opening the door to weight loss operations for other people in the area as well as Philip.

Philip, who weighs just over 20 stone after losing a stone in the last year, said a doctor had told him he would be dead before he was 60 without the gastric band operation which could extend his life by 15 to 20 years.

Philip, who lives with his wife Jane, 35, and sons Dean, eight, and 18-month-old Sean, said: "The operation could extend my life, I'm very happy that I'm back on the list, it's a good start to the year for me, a bit of a late Christmas present.

"If there was a possibility of extending your life, would you take it?

"This is excellent news for my two kids too.

"If they have grandkids at least I'll see them if I get the operation whereas this time round I might not. If I don't have the operation, there's a chance I might not see them."

"There's people out there that might need it more than me. If there's somebody out there who needs it more than me, I don't have any problems with them going ahead of me on the list.

"Over these last five years, I've always had an active life because we've always had a dog, so really I've always walked the dog.

"It's just never come off. I've tried all these diets.

"I don't fear for my life, it's just how many years I've got left and this operation could extend those years.

"I don't think that the PCT board should decide who gets the operation. It should be up to the doctor who deals with these people day in day out.

"He knows the ones who need it most, not the board."

Walking dog and salads

Philip usually walks his five-year-old Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Blue, about two miles a day.

He said his job as a fork lift truck driver in Wetherby kept him quite active.

"Every five weeks you've got two weeks of a very physical job," he said.

"I've got some weights that I use at home and I do them 20 minutes a day before I go to bed.

"Over the last couple of years I've just about stopped drinking. In two years I've probably drunk about six or seven pints of lager.

"Over the last couple of years I've cut down my eating - last night I had a tuna pasta salad at work.

"In previous years I would have had four sandwiches and two bags of crisps, an apple and two yoghurts but I'm just not interested anymore.

"Over the last couple of years my food intake will have been cut by at least 50 per cent.

"I don't eat food that you call bad' food any more.

"Now I don't drink fizzy drinks. I used to drink a lot of it but I drink water now. That's happened over the last couple of years."

Treatment is back for those at risk

North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust is unable to discuss individual cases.

However, a spokeswoman said: "In 2006, the Primary Care Trust (PCT) undertook a review of morbid obesity surgery, as it is the PCT's responsibility to ensure that national guidelines are followed.

"Whilst this review was under way, the PCT suspended the commissioning of the service.

"The review was completed in February 2007, and the PCT has now re-commissioned bariatric surgery for those very high risk patients who have exceptional clinical need measured against strict clinical criteria.

"Any requests for subsequent surgeries will be accessed on an individual basis."

At the time that Philip thought he may not get his op, Dr Jonathan Thow, lead clinician for York hospital's endocrine directorate - which deals with the hormonal causes of obesity - said: "For some people, this operation may be life-saving and he (Mr Cooper) is in a category of patient for whom we think the operation is very suitable."