Woman Suffers Ongoing Pain After Vaginal Mesh Operation
Kerry Watson, a 40-year-old mother of three from Kinmel Bay in Conwy county, has been living with "constant, disabling pain" since undergoing an operation in 2014 to treat a prolapsed bladder using a vaginal mesh implant. She now relies on a walking stick and takes over 100 tablets weekly to manage the severe pain.
She is among 25 women who have received compensation following surgeries performed by a single surgeon in north Wales. The Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) has issued an apology, acknowledging that Kerry was not fully informed about the risks, side effects, or alternative treatments prior to the mesh surgery.
"It felt like I had a needle through my back, and it was coming out my front, and I couldn't twist past it," Kerry described her pain immediately after the operation.
"Your mental health is affected. You get brain fog, you're tired, you're fatigued. You can't function as a woman – and that's every day for 10 years," she added.
"I'm a mum to three boys, but I felt like I was failing. As they were getting older, I couldn't even stand to watch them play football.
"After 10 years, I couldn't walk, I couldn't drive, I couldn't do jobs that a mum would do for her children.
"That was when I didn't want to be here at all."
What is Vaginal Mesh?
Vaginal mesh surgery involves inserting a synthetic mesh, a plastic net-like product, to support pelvic organs. It has been used to treat pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence but has caused debilitating harm to some women.
Side effects reported include infection, pelvic pain, difficulty urinating, pain during sex, and incontinence. Due to patient safety concerns, the NHS paused the use of vaginal mesh in 2018.
By June 2024, Kerry underwent an operation to partially remove the mesh due to worsening pain. Although the pain has improved, it persists, and she awaits further surgery.
"It's a woman thing – you try and hide everything. You end up distancing yourself from friends and family.
"I was defined by the pain, by the way I felt – it consumed me.
"But what's happened to me has happened to other women as well. I can't bear the thought of others sitting at home, so uncomfortable, so in pain.
"I want to share my story to give others the courage to come forward and not suffer in silence."
Surgeon and Health Board Response
The consultant who performed Kerry's operation, Derek Klazinga, retired in 2016. Kerry is among several women who report not being adequately informed of the risks before surgery under his care.
BBC Wales contacted Mr. Klazinga regarding how consent was obtained and whether alternative treatments were discussed; he did not respond. Previously, he stated to S4C's Y Byd Ar Bedwar:
"I wish to express my sincerest sympathy that these ladies have had to endure such physical and psychological pain caused by, what we now know to be, defective medical products used in their treatments.
"Before retiring in 2016, I always practised with the patient at the centre of my care, while abiding by the first principle of medicine: 'first, do no harm'."
The Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, which manages the NHS services in north Wales, has apologised for the harm caused by vaginal mesh in some cases.
Executive medical director Dr Clara Day said:
"I want to acknowledge the stress and pain this has caused to a small proportion of women in our region who underwent those procedures.
"I have been made aware of some historic claims in relation to one clinician who left the health board in 2016.
"Via the legal system, we have acknowledged physical harm to some patients who underwent procedures and we have found record keeping and consent had not been completed to the required standard in a number of cases.
"Every claim has resulted in learning for us, which has been scrutinised by experts outside of our Health Board."
