AN OFFICE worker with 38KK breasts fighting for NHS-funded reduction surgery says she could take her fight to the European Court of Human Rights.
Kim Mills, of north Springfield, claims the decision to deny her funding for the second time last week denies her the chance of a better life.
The desperate single mother, who suffers from arthritis of the spine, says her chest is so heavy she struggles to bathe her four-year-old daughter or even sit down.
"I'm so deflated I feel there is no justice in this world right now," said the 32-year-old of Trenchard Crescent.
"These are my human rights and they're taking them away. My life is very restrictive all due to two boobs which I can't get rid of.
"If I could do it myself I would but it's completely out of my hands.
"I don't know where else to go, or where else this can be taken – where else can I take the NHS when I think they're doing wrong?
"I feel I'm a little woman right now chasing a massive institution."
'Not just a pair of boobs'
Miss Mills was first turned down funding in June despite arguing the weight of her chest exacerbated her arthritis.
As part of her appeal she had five minutes to argue her case in front of about 10 clinicians on the Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group Exceptional Cases Panel three weeks ago.
Miss Mills received a three-page rejection letter from the panel on Thursday explaining an approval would "set a precedent".
The panel also advised she reduce her BMI to 28 to ensure her breasts decrease in size, despite already losing five stone this year to no avail.
"I'm feeling a whole barrel of emotions. This is my life, not just a pair of boobs," she said.
The NHS website however specifies an individual is entitled to surgery if large breasts are causing poor posture, backache or psychological distress.
Online campaign
The Mid Essex CCG however overspent its £400 million budget by £9.1 million last year and is now embarking on a two-year financial recovery plan.
"I just think they're tight. The be all and end all is there is not the money," she said.
"I am 100 per cent sure that they were always going to say no from the beginning and were never going to change their mind."
While Miss Mills is considering taking the case to Strasbourg, she will also appeal within the 42-day limit and obtain a second-opinion from an orthopedic surgeon, paid for out of her private medical insurance.
Meanwhile her friend Lorelle Toomey has launched an online campaign for donations to fund the surgery privately, costing an estimated £7,000 as quoted by MYA Cosmetic Surgery in New Street, Chelmsford.
Yet Miss Mills says the state should fund the operation, arguing: "As hard as I work I can't commit financially to an operation right now.
"It's going to change my life and it's the little things that come with that, the ability to have a normal life with my children, to wear normal clothes, to exercise normally, to be able to wear a sports bra.
"It's a life-changing operation, it's not just in order to spunk the money away just for the sake of it."
For Ms Toomey's fundraising page visit: http://www.gofundme.com/ahud3g
To see a list of where public Mid Essex CCG consultations are happening over the following months, click here.
