A man needs six operations and has a hernia which makes him "look pregnant" after drinking from the Brisbane River.

John Macdonald, 59, dropped his beer in the river while fishing in March last year but picked it back up and kept drinking.

John MacDonald says he faces six operations. Credit:Vicki Wood/Caboolture News

Within three hours he was violently ill, eventually falling into a coma and undergoing two operations.

The Sunshine Coast pensioner still needs another six operations and is living in constant pain with a giant hernia he says makes him look pregnant.

"My doctor has told me I'm a ticking time bomb, I am always in pain," he said.

Read more at the Sunshine Coast Daily.