A 29-STONE grand- father has been given renewed hope that he will finally get the operation he has been longing for.

Gavin Solly, 51, has hardly left his bedroom in the eight years since he fell down concrete steps and damaged his coccyx working at Dorset County Hospital.

He went from 20 to 35 stone as he has found it too uncomfortable to walk or sit down.

His wife Christine fears if he does not have a gastric bypass operation he may suffer a heart attack and die in bed.

But that could all change if he gets the operation at Southmead Hospital in Bristol.

Mr Solly, of Yalbury Lane, Crossways, said: “I’m happy now because I’ve got some light at the end of the tunnel and I can see something happening.

“The surgeon in Bristol said there’s no problem but they’ve got to do their own tests.

“It’s all looking positive so I’m really looking forward to it.”

Mr Solly is going to Bristol for tests on April 12 and is hoping the operation will follow quickly afterwards.

He believes that he will achieve the weight loss to make walking comfortable again and enable doctors to repair his coccyx.

Last year Mrs Solly, 50, feared he might commit suicide when the gastric bypass operation he was expecting at Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton was cancelled.

He got down to 32 stone in November and, despite further delays, Mr Solly continued exercising with dumbbells and lifting his legs to get to 29 stone.

And he is delighted the £10,000 needed for the operation has been transferred by NHS Dorset for him to have the operation.

The grandfather of 12 added: “I’ve lost more than two stone more and have been pushing myself further.

“I’m quite chuffed about it as it’s not easy.”

Mr Solly wanted to add that it was his injuries that left him confined to his bedroom.

He said: “My back is what put me here and there’s still something wrong with my coccyx.

“That’s why I’m still in bed.

“Obesity is a disease where you have a craving for food. Fortunately, I’m not addicted to food.

“I put on weight because I could not exercise.

“I’ve been in bed for eight years and put on a stone each year.

“If you were filling yourself with crisps you would put on three or four each year.”

Mrs Solly said her husband fears a further knock-back but has been buoyed by the surgeon’s positivity.

She said: “Gavin said the surgeon spoke to him in a way that made him feel more like a human being.

“It was good news.”

A spokesperson for NHS Dorset said: “NHS Dorset will support any patient with the bariatric service who wishes to go to an alternative designated service if they feel their treatment is not proceeding as they would expect.”