A Fife protester who heckled Humza Yousaf during his speech at the SNP’s Dundee independence convention will meet the first minister in her home today.
Glenrothes grandmother Theresa Mallett confronted the SNP leader at Caird Hall on June 24 over his failure to grant a public inquiry into disgraced surgeon Sam Eljamel.
Theresa, who has been a nationalist for decades, told Mr Yousaf she was quitting the SNP in anger over the scandal surrounding the bungling surgeon.
She was left with lifelong injuries after she was operated on by Mr Eljamel in 2012 when he was still employed by NHS Tayside.
Theresa told us 11 years of pain came out in one dramatic moment when she heckled the first minister.
Mr Yousaf has refused to commit to a full public inquiry into how the neurosurgeon was able to harm patients for so long.
But victims of the rogue medic, including Theresa, say only a major public probe will get them the answers they need.
Theresa said she will have one simple demand for Mr Yousaf when she welcomes him into her home: “Just do a public inquiry.”
The Fife gran said it has been a whirlwind week since she made national headlines after interrupting Mr Yousaf.
But she is unfazed at the prospect of meeting the first minister.
‘It doesn’t faze me’
She told us: “I never saw this coming two weeks ago. It doesn’t faze me.
“I’ve not put anything to say in my head, because I always speak from the heart.
“I want to talk to Humza constructively to get a public inquiry.”
She added: “I’ll stick to my guns. I always stick to my guns.
“It’s going to be interesting. I know what he can expect from me. I don’t know what I can expect from Humza.”
In June, whistleblowers claimed NHS Tayside were alerted to concerns about Mr Eljamel as early as 2009.
That’s despite health board bosses repeatedly insisting they first became aware in 2013, when he was placed under supervision.
Newly released documents show NHS Tayside blamed junior staff for Mr Eljamel’s poor performance at Ninewells Hospital.
More than 100 patients have now come forward insisting they were harmed by the disgraced neurosurgeon as pressure on the government mounts.
For a long time Theresa was unaware of the campaign for a public inquiry and she was left suffering in silence.
And while she is hosting a high-profile guest, Theresa said the pain she endures means she often spends long spells at home alone.
She said: “I can sit in the winter and never speak to anybody.
“I can’t get out. I’m cut off. That’s why I hadn’t become aware of the campaign group sooner.
“I was just living like a hermit, cut-off. That’s how my life has been.”