A BRAVE Ulverston man could be set for another round of surgery to help ease his life-threatening condition.

Phil Clark, 39, suffers from Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which affects one in 5,000 people and is an incurable genetic disorder that weakens the collagen in the body. In some cases, there is a real risk of self-decapitation.

The surgery needed to ease the condition isn’t available on the NHS so Phil underwent 14 hours of surgery in Barcelona to free his spinal cord from his spine and to fuse his head neck and shoulders to immobilise them.

That was after an incredible fundraising drive that collected just short of £100,000 to help pay for the surgery and insurances for the five-week trip.

The surgery was initially a success, but symptoms that the spinal cord may have reattached itself to the spine have emerged so it will mean another trip to Spain for Phil.

He said: "When I had my surgery done in March, I was pain-free. It was such a relief as I had been in a lot of pain and it was causing me all kinds of problems.

"I was wheel-chair bound and the were a number of other issues. But when we got home, I improved very quickly, so much so that I was able to take the kids to the park and swimming. These were things I hadn't been able to do for a while.

"But recently, the old problems are starting to return, which is very frustrating. I think the spinal cord has reattached itself to the spine.

"I'm going to go back over to Spain in the next couple of weeks to speak to the surgeon so I couldn't be in better hands.

"The fact that this surgery isn't available in this country - NHS or Private - is staggering but I think people are starting to wake up to the fact that this is life-saving surgery.

"My children Steffan, Owain and Rhiannon also suffer from the condition so it can be hard at times but with my wife Sally-Anne we have pulled together.

"And thanks to a lot of fantastic people who helped raise some money, we have been able to battle against this condition.

"The Spanish medical team were fantastic and I'm hoping they will be able to help when I go back out there."