Is this Britain's vainest person? Barman who wants to look like ‘the perfect man’ gets £5,000 nose job on the NHS (which won't fund cancer care for a five-year-old girl)

Sam Barton, 22, wants to 'mirror' Joey Essex so he 'looks and feels good'

The Sutton Coldfield man said it was 'easy' to get NHS to pay for nose job



It was funded by NHS Birmingham CrossCity Clinical Commissioning Group

Cancer victim Kelli Smith, five, has been told her treatment won't be paid for



Kelli's father said those wanting cosmestic surgery should 'pay for themselves'



A man who says he is seeking a celebrity lifestyle has been given a nose job by the NHS while it refuses to fund the cancer treatment of a five-year-old girl who lives nearby.

Sam Barton, 22, has boasted about how easy it was to get the £5,000 procedure and admits he only wanted it so he could look like ‘the perfect man’.

The operation was paid for by NHS Birmingham CrossCity Clinical Commissioning Group. Five-year-old cancer victim Kelli Smith has been told her treatment won’t be paid for.

Britain's vainest man: Sam Barton, 22 from Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, was given a £5,000 nose job on the NHS as part of his bid to become 'the perfect man'

She has suffered from neuroblastoma, an aggressive and often deadly form of childhood cancer, and has already had three tumours removed after a relapse.

She cannot get further treatment on the NHS, so her family are attempting to raise £500,000 so she can have it abroad.

Kelli’s father, Tom Attwater, 31, who has a terminal brain tumour, said last night it was wrong for the NHS to ‘throw away’ money on cosmetic procedures.

‘This man and anyone else should pay for themselves, unless they have a serious medical condition,’ he said.

‘I wake up every day with a terminal illness worrying about how to fund-raise £500,000 for Kelli’s treatment if she relapses. This is where NHS funding should go.’

Mr Barton, who lives close to Kelli’s family in Sutton Coldfield, admits he secured the cosmetic surgery by pretending to cry in front of his local GP.

Mr Barton had the operation, left, to try and copy the lives of people such as Joey Essex, right, who appeared on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! He said: 'I feel that if I mirror celebrities, like Joey, I will look and feel good'



‘Getting the NHS to pay was the easiest thing I have ever done,’ he said. ‘If you say it is ruining your life and you are a good actor it is easy. I can be very manipulative.

‘I said that all my friends are celebrities or glamour models and really beautiful and I am the only ugly one in my group of friends. If you don’t know what to say, just cry.’

Mr Barton, who works part-time in a bar and a supermarket, already had his nose straightened two years ago. He claims he could have had that on the NHS as well, but having it privately was quicker.

He says he has spent £20,000 for dental work, including full porcelain veneers, and friends and family have paid for Botox, eyebrow threading, tanning injections, body waxing and hair extensions.

The nose job was paid for by the NHS which has refused to fund treatment for cancer victim Kelli Smith, five

Mr Barton is also expecting the taxpayer to foot the bill for further cosmetic surgery, including another nose job, as well as having his ears pinned back and jaw reshaped.

He said: ‘I understand why people get angry when the NHS pays for people like me to have nose jobs, but when they make it so easy how can you blame me?’

He says he is friends with White Dee, who has gained notoriety after featuring in Channel 4’s Benefits Street, and says he plans to accompany her when she goes partying in Magaluf again next month.

On social media there are dozens of photographs of Mr Barton posing with minor television celebrities. He says he is trying to copy the lifestyles of people such as Joey Essex, who appeared on I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here!

‘It is my ultimate dream – as everyone wants – to look and feel like a celebrity,’ he said. ‘I’m chasing a lifestyle and I feel that if I mirror celebrities, like Joey, I will look good and feel good.

‘If the celebrities are spending all their money on treatments, I want to too. I will definitely go to the NHS first and try my luck.’

He said he has to wait 12 months before he can go back again. ‘I will just say that they had not done what I asked for and that it looks worse than before and do the whole routine that it is ruining my life and turn on the waterworks,’ he said.

‘I try to see a different GP every time so that they buy my story.’

Last year, aspiring glamour model Josie Cunningham, 22, had her breasts enlarged at a cost of £4,800 on the NHS using a similar tactic – by claiming her flat chest was ruining her life. Under NHS guidelines, cosmetic surgery should be funded only in rare circumstances ‘to protect a person’s health’.

Mr Barton’s procedure was paid for by the NHS Birmingham Commissioning Group after he was referred to a consultant by his GP.

A spokesman for the group said: ‘We do not comment on individual cases. All operations and interventions would only be undertaken on medical grounds and would require the approval of an appropriate clinical consultant.’

Other families whose children have been refused life-changing operations on the NHS last night told the Daily Mail of their anger at the case of Mr Barton.

Jake Foster, 13, was refused an operation that would prolong his life. His mother Debbie said: ‘It makes me so angry that someone can play the system like this. Crocodile tears may have worked for him, but we cried real tears, begged, started a petition and went to our local MP but nothing worked.’

Oliver Dockerty, three, was refused an operation that would allow him to walk. His mother Claire said: ‘What I don’t like is when people like this rub it in your face. People are struggling to get the money for procedures that could genuinely change someone’s life.’