Man with 'stomach in his chest' has been unable to breathe properly for 70 years

A man whose stomach is 'in his chest' due to a lifelong condition decided to undergo a risky surgery after struggling for 70 years with his ability to breathe.

Ken Prout, who is now 72 years old, has lived his entire life with a condition known as 'paralysis of the diaphragm' - the mass between the abdomen and the chest.

The diaphragm is responsible for helping the lungs fill with air and keeping the abdominal organ in place.

However, because half of Ken's diaphragm isn't working, 'all of his stomach' is now in his chest, surgeon Hazim Fallouh has explained.

He's also struggled to breathe properly for most of his life, but now in his 70s, Ken can no longer cope with the feeling of being out of breath.

In Channel 5's new series Surgeons: A Matter of Life or Death, Ken prepares to undergo surgery to try and improve his lung capacity.

Channel 5

"I'm a little bit nervous. I've not hit the panic button. I don't think I had an option to be honest, I think we've reached the point with this where the quality of life is really restricted with the condition I've got," Ken said.

Surgeon Fallouh, at the University Hospitals Birmingham, explained: "Ken seems to have managed all of his life with a condition called paralysis of the diaphragm... In Ken's case, half of his diaphragm isn't working."

Channel 5

Fallouh continued: "All of his stomach is now up here in the chest. Food doesn't drain well and he starts vomiting. He's been losing a lot of weight.

"You normally tend to have a lot of breathlessness with this condition, and Ken has quite a big deal of breathlessness, but he seems to have coped with that all of his life.

"This operation should restore some of that function. It is a rather big surgery."

A teaser for the show shows Ken, an RAF veteran, preparing for the keyhole surgery and explaining that it's an opportunity to give him 'some quality of life back'.

However, during the surgery Fallough finds that Ken's diaphragm is dangerously thin, and he may not be able to withstand the procedure.

All of the operations depicted in the show take place at the University Hospitals Birmingham, where some of the country's most skilled doctors work to save lives every day.

The series follows surgeons and their patients, highlighting the split-second decisions that must be made in an effort to save lives.