Board Game Operation's Inventor Needs Surgery

The man who invented the board game Operation half a century ago now needs help paying for a real operation.

Friends of cash-strapped John Spinello have launched a crowd-funded project to raise money for his medical expenses.

The 77-year-old Illinois man needs $25,000 (£15,400) for oral surgery not covered by his insurance.

He sold the rights to Operation, which he invented as an industrial design student at the University of Illinois in 1964, for just $500.

Now owned by Hasbro, the classic electrified game is estimated to have generated at least $40m in sales since its launch a year later.

Mr Spinello is not entitled to royalties.

His friends Tim Walsh and Peggy Brown have launched the appeal on the website CrowdRise.

The fundraiser reads: "John has had a good life, but has admitted to us that he is struggling to pay his bills and is in need of a medical procedure without sufficient insurance coverage."

Mr Spinello did not appear as daunted by his predicament as "Cavity Sam", the frightened patient in his beloved game.

He told Huffington Post: "Look, everyone needs medical care.

"I prefer not to dwell on that aspect and focus more on the joy that the game has brought to so many over the years."

Players of Operation must keep their hands steady to remove a broken heart, funny bone, spare ribs and other body parts from Cavity Sam.

His red nose lights up and a loud buzzer sounds when the competitors' tweezers touch the metal edges.