Jules Rose never imagined herself as a relentless campaigner at the heart of a huge health scandal – but that was before disgraced Sam Eljamel harmed her.
“I wish I’d jumped off that bed in the anaesthetic room and run,” she says, reflecting on her nightmare ordeal at the former NHS Tayside surgeon’s hands.
Rogue doctor Eljamel removed the Kinross mum’s tear gland instead of her brain tumour when she went in for an operation in August 2013.
Four months later Jules went in for a second procedure to take out the tumour after her first surgery had been botched.
Just one day later, Eljamel was suspended by NHS Tayside, and it has since emerged the disgraced doctor repeatedly harmed patients.
Eljamel public inquiry ordered
A public inquiry was finally ordered by the Scottish Government into the fiasco last year after endless pressure from frustrated campaigners.
Much of that was down to the tireless work of Jules, a regular name in The Courier’s coverage of this scandal. She played a crucial role in coordinating protests and became a thorn in the side of the SNP and NHS Tayside.
But it’s not a role the mum-of-two, who works as a teaching assistant, ever envisaged for herself.
“Never in my wildest dreams,” she says.
Jules admits the work is not always easy given her responsibilities as a parent. How does she manage?
She says: “It’s extremely difficult. My time is never my own.
“I’ll never pretend that it’s easy, because it’s not. It’s one of the most difficult things I’ve ever undertaken.
“This never leaves me. It is with me 24/7.”
Jules was speaking to The Courier while on holiday in Rome.
But she adds: “The fury I have drives me to see this through to the bitter end.”
She is scathing about NHS Tayside’s failure to stop Eljamel sooner.
The disgraced neurosurgeon – who fled to Libya – was technically under supervision when he harmed Jules in the operating theatre.
But it later emerged he was never directly monitored while carrying out hundreds of surgeries in the last six months of his career at Ninewells Hospital.
‘I never had reason to doubt healthcare system’
Jules says: “Had I known then, I would never in a million miles have endured the treatment I did from Eljamel and NHS Tayside.
“I had 110% trust in my surgeon and the health board. I never had any reason to doubt the healthcare system.”
Determined as ever, Jules has continued to arrange protests even after campaigners reached their long-awaited goal of a public inquiry.
She is frustrated at the slow pace in setting up the probe, and has criticised the lack of progress being made by police carrying out a separate investigation.
“I’m not the sort of person to let it go,” she says. “I would have stood outside parliament naked if I had to in order to get their attention.”
Botched operation
As with many patients, Jules had a long and difficult recovery following her botched operation.
She was physically active before her illness and regularly ran marathons.
She says: “I never got back running to the scale that I previously did.
“Mentally my mind was willing, but my body just wasn’t.
“I’ve ran one full marathon since then, more so for my mental health, to not let Eljamel and NHS Tayside take that from me.”
‘Murky world of politics’
Does Jules see herself as someone who could one day become active in politics, fighting for change from the inside?
She’s now used to regular media appearances, knows how to speak in public and has perfected getting her message out to the wider public.
“I’ve no interest at all,” she says.
“I’ve seen the murky world that they operate in, and I feel my forte and strength is doing what I’m doing as a campaigner.”
But given her life has already taken an unpredictable turn, she has a final thought.
“Never say never,” she adds.
Conversation