A man fears he will lose his dream job after waiting more than a year for surgeons to operate on his badly broken leg.

Edward Naughton, 19, who is deaf, of Longfields, Marcham, was studying to be a carpenter and had been offered a job placement when he nearly died a year ago after being hit by a car in Abingdon.

Trauma specialists at the John Radcliffe Hospital and plastic surgeons at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford managed to save his life, but he has now been told he will not receive a vital bone graft at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington until May.

He needs the operation to mend four breaks to his tibia which have left him in severe pain and unable to walk. The injury has also prevented him finishing his carpentry course at Abingdon College.

Mr Naughton's mother, Maureen Thomas, 46, said: "He had skin and muscle grafts, and it was decided he needed a bone graft, but they needed to see how much more his bone would grow first.

"In August, it was decided the bone wasn't growing quickly enough and they told us they would operate before Christmas, then we were told it would happen in March, and now we're being told it could be sometime in May.

"This has mucked up his whole life. Edward was so lucky, he had a work placement and the possibility of a job at Radley College from last September. It'll be very difficult for him to get another job. Because he uses sign language, he couldn't work on a building site because of communication issues."

Through his mother, Mr Naughton said: "I'm feeling very fed up. I still want to be a carpenter, but I may have to do something else now.

"I don't think the hospital staff realise how much pain I'm in. All I can do is sit at home all day."

An NOC spokesman said Mr Naughton's operation was scheduled for May, and because a consultant at the NOC first saw him in November, the wait was within the Government's six-month target.

She said: "Mr Naughton needs very complex surgery involving a number of specialist surgeons. We'll arrange for someone from our patient advice and liaison service to contact the family."

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