‘It’s so hard to live with knowing Wayne was treated so poorly’
10:17, 21 May 2026Updated 11:42, 21 May 2026
Wayne Clark, who died following NHS weight loss surgery, pictured with his mum, Sam.(Image: Slater & Gordon / SWNS)
A ‘gentle giant’ died in agony just weeks after having NHS weight loss surgery. Wayne Clarke, 32, died after a gastric bypass at Sunderland Royal Hospital – and his devastated family claims the operation left him suffering a deadly stomach “leak”.
The lorry driver, from Seaham in County Durham, had lived with obesity and type two diabetes before going under the knife on December 3 last year. But, his loved ones say his condition spiralled after the op and he endured “undignified and demeaning” care, including being left in his own faeces.
Despite multiple surgeries to fix the leak in his stomach, Wayne’s health rapidly deteriorated, and he died on January 7. Now his family are demanding answers, and says they’ve been left broken by his death.
The NHS website lists stomach leaking as a possible complication after weight loss surgery. It said: “In the days or weeks after a gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy, there’s a small chance that food could leak out of your abdomen. This can cause a serious infection inside your stomach that will need antibiotic treatment.”
His sister Mel said: “I don’t know how we will get over this as a family. My mam and dad are fading away, and our daughter absolutely adored her Uncle Wayne, she is only nine and it has been so hard to explain this to her.”
Mel is calling for answers around the death of her 32-year-old ‘gentle giant’ brother (Image: Slater & Gordon / SWNS)
She said: “The fact that Wayne suffered so much is something that I’ll never forget, and we do want accountability for that. While he was in hospital, there were so many really upsetting incidents, and it’s so hard to live with knowing Wayne was treated so poorly.”
Mel claims that her brother “wasn’t taken seriously” when he felt like he was “dying” and concerns by the family were brushed off. She said: “There was one absolutely awful instance where they accused him of recording them on his phone.
“Wayne was devastated by how they spoke to him and treated him about this. It was a very distressing situation when Wayne was declining really quickly, and raised a lot of questions.”
Wayne, pictured with brother-in-law Stu, died a month after bariatric surgery at Sunderland Royal Hospital, following stomach ‘leak’ complications(Image: Slater & Gordon / SWNS)
Mel’s husband, Stu, suggested that the care Wayne received in intensive care lacked “any compassion or empathy”. He said: “The way they spoke to Wayne, even from what we saw ourselves, was unacceptable. Mel and I both work in care, and we were shocked at what we saw.”
Stu claims that, after reading through Wayne’s medical records, there was an instance where the 32-year-old was supposedly “rude” to staff after being left on his own for at least half an hour in his own faeces. He added: “This was a young man who was in pain, desperate because he couldn’t do anything for himself and who was declining fast – and all they can say is that he shouldn’t have spoken to them as he did?”
The family also said that they were “robbed of precious hours” with Wayne before he died. Mel said: “[The staff] knew during the night he had got so much worse, and when your son or brother is in intensive care, you don’t sleep properly anyway with the trauma and worry. We would’ve been there instantly if we had known anything had changed.”
Wayne had weight loss surgery at Sunderland Royal Hospital(Image: SWNS)
Lawyers have now lodged a 26-point complaint over his care. Rebecca Hall, of Slater and Gordon, who is representing the family, said: “Wayne hoped this surgery would be life-enhancing and transformative, but the tragedy that ensued has rightly caused his family to ask questions about what went wrong.
“Too often, we hear of families who are not listened to and feel dismissed by medics, and that is absolutely unacceptable. The way Wayne was treated only compounds his family’s devastation.”
A South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust spokesperson said: “We send our sincere condolences to Mr Clark’s family following their loss. We have shared an in-depth response with them to help answer the questions they have around his surgery, the complications he suffered and his time in hospital.”
“An inquest will now be held into his death and we will support the coroner fully in this process.” The inquest into Wayne’s death is expected to take place later this year.