:00:00. > :00:22.A fifty stone man from the Vale of Glamorgan - who lost more than
:00:23. > :00:27.half his body weight after paying for surgery in India - says, the NHS
:00:28. > :00:31.in Wales needs to rethink how they treat morbidly obese patients.
:00:32. > :00:33.Thousands of people are waiting for gastric operations -
:00:34. > :00:35.because the criteria for carrying out the surgery here is stricter
:00:36. > :00:42.But, with almost a quarter of adults classed as obese - funding treatment
:00:43. > :01:03.At 50 stone, Zac Smith was eating himself into an early grave and in
:01:04. > :01:07.his 30s, he realised he needed help. It was at the funeral of my
:01:08. > :01:12.stepfather, I was down to carry the coffin and I could not walk down the
:01:13. > :01:18.aisle of the Church to my seat. All I kept thinking was, what next? He
:01:19. > :01:23.thought he would qualify for an operation, but he was turned down
:01:24. > :01:29.under NHS rules in Wales. His only option was to go to India for a
:01:30. > :01:34.?9,000 private operation, surgery to have a gastric sleeve that it helped
:01:35. > :01:39.him lose weight. After losing so much weight, he was left with three
:01:40. > :01:44.stone of loose skin. He asked the NHS for another operation to remove
:01:45. > :01:48.it, but he was turned down. At 6-foot five, he was told he would
:01:49. > :01:54.effectively have to reduce his weight to 12.5 stone. I do not know
:01:55. > :02:06.how someone of my size, my height, how I can get the weight down to
:02:07. > :02:13.that. So, it was back to India where he kept a video diary as he had
:02:14. > :02:18.another operation. Fingers crossed. In Wales, there are 15,000 super
:02:19. > :02:22.obese people who would like to have operations, but the NHS committee
:02:23. > :02:27.which decides how money for surgical procedure should be spent says the
:02:28. > :02:31.answer is likely to be known. The plastic surgery service cannot
:02:32. > :02:42.commit, does not have the resources and we cannot... It is about making
:02:43. > :02:45.choices. But a senior surgeon is warning that soaring rates of morbid
:02:46. > :02:52.obesity are threatening the future of the NHS in Wales. If we do not
:02:53. > :02:55.care about this, we are going to find our NHS falling apart within
:02:56. > :02:59.the next 15 or 20 years. The government says it is planning to
:03:00. > :03:04.increase these operations to catch up with the rates in England. With a
:03:05. > :03:06.backlog and increasing demand, however, the pressure, like the
:03:07. > :03:09.problem is growing. A deputy leader of Powys council
:03:10. > :03:12.has resigned after using a racial Myfanwy Alexander used the n-word
:03:13. > :03:15.in a debate about cross-border After initially refusing to step
:03:16. > :03:18.down, Public Health Wales has confirmed
:03:19. > :03:28.that one person is voluntarily staying off work
:03:29. > :03:30.and limiting their contact with other people after possible exposure
:03:31. > :03:32.to the Ebola virus. The individual DOES NOT have
:03:33. > :03:35.symptoms, and there are no cases of ebola in Wales, but the precaution
:03:36. > :03:38.has been taken after the person Campaigners hoping to reverse a
:03:39. > :03:47.decision to close inpatient beds at Cardigan Hospital have been given
:03:48. > :03:50.permission for a judicial review. The group argued the health board
:03:51. > :03:53.should have consulted on the plan. Hywel Dda University health board
:03:54. > :03:56.says - it feels it complied with its legal obligations, but will
:03:57. > :04:04.continue to work with the court. Illegal off-roading - using
:04:05. > :04:07.motorbikes and 4x4s - in forests Natural Resources Wales says it's
:04:08. > :04:11.joined forces with North Wales Police and landowners to
:04:12. > :04:14.restrict access to protected areas. It's claimed that vehicles are
:04:15. > :04:15.damaging property Illegal off-roading means taking
:04:16. > :04:28.a vehicle anywhere it's not meant This is one
:04:29. > :04:33.of the more extreme cases - the driver of this 4x4 was jailed
:04:34. > :04:36.last year for dangerous driving The forests and fields of
:04:37. > :04:43.North Wales were a major draw for organisers of the Wales Rally GB
:04:44. > :04:47.- but while this has been carefully managed to allow vehicles legal
:04:48. > :04:48.access to the countryside that doesn't mean
:04:49. > :05:01.the same rule applies elsewhere. We are in a special area of
:05:02. > :05:05.conservation and this is an internationally important
:05:06. > :05:09.landscape, where these sorts of activities are not allowed and just
:05:10. > :05:13.because we have these organised events, it does not really mean
:05:14. > :05:16.anyone else can come in and carry on as they choose.
:05:17. > :05:18.Haf Morris owns a farm in the Ceiriog Valley near Wrexham.
:05:19. > :05:22.As well as facing abuse from illegal off roaders who use her land, she's
:05:23. > :05:33.We had to put locks on the gates and literally the last lot came up and
:05:34. > :05:38.drove through the gates, broke both of them in half and went up onto our
:05:39. > :05:42.private land, onto the grassland and made a mess, because it was the end
:05:43. > :05:46.of March and we know how wet the winter was. It is not just property
:05:47. > :05:51.and the environment that they're the scars of illegal off-roading, those
:05:52. > :05:52.who participate in this are putting themselves at risk of long-lasting
:05:53. > :05:56.damage. Sergeant Wesley Williams is
:05:57. > :05:59.on patrol in parkland in Wrexham. It's a hotspot for youngsters
:06:00. > :06:06.on motorbikes. We have had a couple of accidents
:06:07. > :06:08.where youths have come off the bikes and have had significant
:06:09. > :06:11.life-changing injuries as a result. In an attempt to reduce the problem,
:06:12. > :06:13.police and Natural Resources Wales have joined forces to build barriers
:06:14. > :06:16.and increase signs across rural Legal routes are available usually
:06:17. > :06:19.run by clubs and offer all the thrills without
:06:20. > :06:26.harming the environment. Police are investigating
:06:27. > :06:29.the death of a man in his 20s - thought to have been found
:06:30. > :06:31.at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre, His body was discovered on Monday
:06:32. > :06:35.night and is being treated as unexplained -
:06:36. > :06:39.the man's family has been told. A group -- trying to reopen a
:06:40. > :06:43.leisure centre in Wrexham -- has had its bid for a 50 thousand pounds
:06:44. > :06:45.grant rejected by councillors. Plas Madoc centre was closed earlier
:06:46. > :06:48.this year as part of budget cuts. The Splash Community Trust are
:06:49. > :06:51.working to get it reopened. The building is due to be demolished
:06:52. > :06:58.by the end of September. Wales and Cardiff Blues centre
:06:59. > :07:01.Owen Williams is making progress following a significant spinal cord
:07:02. > :07:03.injury six weeks ago. The 22 year old -- who posted this
:07:04. > :07:06.photo on social media while recovering at Rookwood Hospital --
:07:07. > :07:09.has seen improvements in his arms. He'll also be progressing to
:07:10. > :07:12.sitting up in the next few weeks. A statement, released by the Blues,
:07:13. > :07:15.says, while its still early days - At the Eisteddfod in Llanelli,
:07:16. > :07:28.the Daniel Owen memorial prize was awarded for the best novel,
:07:29. > :07:30.in the pavilion. The winner was Lleucu Roberts
:07:31. > :07:32.from Rhostryfan near Caernarfon. She takes away the five-thousand
:07:33. > :07:34.prize for her book. The judges said she showed she has a
:07:35. > :07:43.sound understanding of human nature. You can keep up to date with all
:07:44. > :07:46.the events at the Eisteddfod There's live coverage
:07:47. > :07:49.of all the action from the pavilion, with English commentary,
:07:50. > :07:51.as well as results, video highlights Let's get the weather -
:07:52. > :08:07.Sue Charles has tonight's forecast. Some heavy rain across Wales, we got
:08:08. > :08:13.this photograph of flash flooding earlier and the heavy rain will move
:08:14. > :08:17.into the north across Wales tonight. Some heavy bursts are likely at
:08:18. > :08:21.times and the Met Office is warning that up to 40 millimetres could fall
:08:22. > :08:27.overnight and it will be a mild night with overnight lows of between
:08:28. > :08:33.14 and 17 degrees. A great start, but the rain should ease, some cloud
:08:34. > :08:36.around, but drier, brighter and breezy conditions and that front
:08:37. > :08:50.moves north eastwards, bringing rain across the east of the UK. Turning
:08:51. > :08:52.drier and brighter, just the odd isolated shower, but for most,
:08:53. > :08:58.decent sized bells, highs between 17 degrees in Glasgow and 22 in London.
:08:59. > :09:01.Showers and sunny spells in Wales. Thursday is one of the best days of
:09:02. > :09:09.the way, largely dry with sunny spells, a small shower will risk,
:09:10. > :09:15.lighter winds, Friday starts try and bright, the risk of rain later, a
:09:16. > :09:29.better chance of staying dry further north -- drive. -- dry. This is the
:09:30. > :09:40.remnants Which? Remnants of a hurricane crossing late Saturday
:09:41. > :09:43.into Sunday -- remnants. A mixed picture, generally dry and brighter
:09:44. > :09:52.on Saturday, but it could be wet and windy on Sunday.
:09:53. > :09:55.Week in Week Out is next tonight -- investigating obesity surgery
:09:56. > :09:59.That's Wales Today thank you for watching - from all of us