Scots Navy veteran 'rejoins human race' after surgery on nose he likened to the Elephant man

A former Navy sailor turned recluse has “rejoined the human race” after a cosmetic surgery on his nose that he likened to the Elephant man.

Ian Arthur isolated himself from society while suffering with rhinophyma, which caused his nose to enlarge and become red, bumpy and bulbous.

“In my isolation, I called my nose John, after John Merrick in The Elephant Man. It was huge carbuncle, which people could not avoid looking at. Now it has gone, a huge weight has been lifted from me,” he said.

The 64-year-old, originally from Manchester, was a boy sailor, joining the Navy at age 17 and serviced for 32 years.

Ian Arthur turned reclusive after his rhinophyma worsened. Supplied

Mr Arthur came to Scotland to sail from the submarine base at Faslane.

He said: “The rhinophyma started to develop about 10 years ago, gradually at first, but then more aggressively. It became much worse and much more noticeable until, by two years ago, I started to feel like a freak.”

The sailor turned photographer said that when the Covid pandemic hit he began to further withdraw from society and “couldn’t face meeting people” when the stay at home order ended.

“I wound down my business, because I felt clients were just staring at my nose. I even began shopping late in the evening, when there were fewer people about.

“The last time I was out in public was when I rode my motorcycle around Northern Europe, but that was only because I could wear a full-face helmet, and no one could see me. That was bliss,” he said.

It wasn’t until his daughter insisted on doing something to combat the condition that Ian began looking for solutions.

“I thought about going to Turkey, on cost grounds, but I thought that with my luck I would probably get a dodgy doctor and my nose would fall off on the way home,” he joked.

After discovering the Ever Clinic in Glasgow Mr Arthur felt “very nervous” about going with a private clinic, but praised the staff.

Using a CO2 laser, Dr Convery was able to remove excess skin tissue from Ian’s nose – what Ian described as “like stripping layers of wallpaper” – cutting off large lumps or nodules and debulking with the laser in continuous wave mode with high power output.

After a successful procedure carried out by aesthetic medicine specialist Dr Cormac Convery at Glasgow’s Ever Clinic, Mr Arthur “feels reborn” and is planning a series of adventurous global trips on his treasured motor cycle.

Ian Arthur said he 'smiles every day' after the cosmetic surgery. — Ian Arthur said he ‘smiles every day’ after the cosmetic surgery. Supplied

“I smile every day. When I wake up in the morning, I wake up happy. I have rejoined the human race.”

With his new-found freedom, Mr Arthur will embark on some motorcycle odysseys, with the first in October to Morocco, Mauretania, Senegal and into war-torn Mali.

In 2025/26, he plans to sell everything he owns in Scotland, ship his motorcycle to North America, and just keep riding through the continent to South America, then over to Australasia.

“Yes,” he said, “I’m just going to follow my nose.”