Here, she gives her heart-breaking account of what has become one of the biggest healthcare scandals in NHS history...

Mesh injured Rebecca Raisbeck and her daughter. (Image: Supplied)

Like many women, my body changed after having children and I began struggling with stress incontinence.

At first, it was things I tried to laugh off, leaking if I coughed, sneezed or laughed too hard.

I couldn’t jump on a trampoline with my children and I couldn’t run around with them without worrying about having an accident.

Then after a cancer scare I was referred for a hysterectomy. That’s when things got worse and I suffered a pelvic prolapse.  

At work, it became unbearable. As a carer, I was lifting and hoisting patients and sometimes my bladder would just empty completely.

I’d have to leave, clean myself up, and fully change my clothes.

It was humiliating and the fear of having an accident began to take over my life and impact the job I loved.

When my GP referred me to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, I felt hopeful for the first time in years.

I was told vaginal mesh was the 'gold standard' a quick, low-risk fix that would allow me to get back to work and enjoy being active again.

A surgeon would use a plastic net like implant made of polypropylene to act like a sling, holding in place the organs that had weakened and moved through childbirth.

The same device was also commonly used in hernia operations. It sounded like a simple quick fix.

Norfolk and Norwich Hospital (Image: Newsquest)

At the appointment I wasn’t offered alternatives and I wasn’t warned about serious risks. I truly believed this was going to be the end of my problems.

I agreed to surgery to support my prolapse, followed by a second operation the following year to support my bladder and stop the incontinence.

But the moment I woke up from the first operation in 2015, everything changed.

I was in agony. I remember it was the kind of pain that takes your breath away.

I was thinking, "something is very wrong".

It felt like my body was screaming. I honestly felt like I was dying.

But I was reassured it was “normal after surgery” and told things would “settle down” as I recovered from the operation.

I had no reason not to believe the experts.

Weeks passed. Then months. But the pain didn’t settle - it just spread and got worse.

Even so, I went ahead with the second procedure, hopeful that this would finally fix everything.

This time I woke with constant pain down my left side and deep into my lower back. Every movement hurt. Sitting hurt. Standing hurt. Sleeping hurt.

But at every follow-up appointment, I was told the same thing, to "give it more time".

What no one prepares you for is how something like this affects everything, not just your body, but your marriage, your social life, your confidence, literally every aspect of your life.

Rebecca Raisbeck is waiting for corrective surgery at Addenbrokes. (Image: Suppplied)

Attempting sex was unbearable for me. But shockingly it hurt my husband too.

He suffered cuts and lacerations to his penis. Every time we tried, he was injured.

He told me he could feel something sharp inside me.

Eventually, we stopped trying altogether. It was too dangerous for us both.

Later, doctors confirmed what we feared, the mesh had eroded through my vaginal wall. It was no wonder he could feel it when we attempted intimacy and I was in constant pain.

One day I collapsed at work and had to be rushed to A&E suffering from another infection caused by the mesh. I was sent home with antibiotics but as soon as one infection cleared, I needed treatment for another.

Around that time, I began hearing other women’s stories online and in newspapers and magazines.

I contacted one of the loudest voices, Kath Sansom who herself had been a victim and started Sling The Mesh to connect survivors and give us a voice when no one else would.

Campaigner and former EDP journalist Kath Sansom (Image: Supplied)

I was relieved to speak to other women who'd experienced the same as me, but devastated to know so many of us were suffering.

In 2018 vaginal mesh operations were suspended completely. It was a bittersweet moment, knowing more women would not suffer, but it did little to help the thousands of us already injured.

Then in 2020 the government published a review into three major health scandals, one of them being mesh. It acknowledged we had been "dismissed, disbelieved and harmed" by systemic failures.

Recommendations included the creation of specialist mesh removal centres and in 2023 I was referred to one at Addenbrooke’s Hospital.

Scans showed the mesh had tangled itself into my bladder, bowel, vagina and lower back.

I was told it needed to be removed but warned that it may not even be possible, because one medic explained: “It is like trying to remove chewing gum from hair.”

I’ve now been waiting for removal surgery for three years.

When the operation does go ahead there is just a 50pc chance of success and I have been warned I may need a stoma bag.

I can’t work anymore and my autistic daughter had to move out of our home and into an assisted living facility because I no longer had the strength to support her.

Now I live with the heartbreak of losing my old life and daily, unrelenting pain.

I can’t enjoy a normal sex life with my husband.

My bowel has been damaged, and the incontinence I was promised would be fixed is back.

Rebecca Raisbeck was heartbroken when her injuries meant her daughter had to move into supported living. Pictured together. (Image: Supplied)

I believe the mesh has triggered other health problems too.

I now get autoimmune reactions and allergies I never had before.

Some days, it feels like I am dying.

I used to love paddleboarding, swimming and fishing. Now I struggle to use a vacuum cleaner.

It has been horrific. My children are now 23, 19 and 16 and have missed out on so much.

All I want now is to be able to start living again for them. 

But despite a report in 2024 that supported the need for compensation and faster access to specialist care, I am still living in limbo.

This month Sling The Mesh represented all the women still waiting for justice at a parliamentary meeting urging MPs to commit to a clear timeframe for redress.

 I went into hospital hoping for a simple solution, instead, my life was put on hold. That's why I'm speaking out today, because after years of pain and waiting - silence is no longer an option.

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