A weekly newspaper helped a reader to get a life-saving operation after highlighting her case on the front page.

The Press in Dewsbury published a story about local woman Carole Jackson, whose brain aneurysm required a ground-breaking procedure, which health insurers Bupa were refusing to fund.

But the company performed a U-turn and agreed to fund the operation after the paper highlighted the case and asked a series of questions to Bupa about it.

Publisher Danny Lockwood even asked the health insurers if their clinical director would attend Carole’s funeral if her wait on NHS lists proved fatal.

Carole is pictured on the front page of The Press in a story about her brain operation.

He said: “Bupa had refused to even discuss the case with Carole’s doctors, who had tried twice to treat the aneurysm but were left with only one last option.

“Bupa claimed there was a lack of data to support them funding the procedure, which has been used widely across Europe but only five times in the UK.

“Carole and her medical team rather felt it was a cost-based decision.

“I don’t know if it the funeral invite had an impact, or the fact that I said we’d be syndicating the story, but the Bupa review team had a change of heart and decided to fund the treatment.”