Transgender woman flies to Turkey for £8,000 gender reassignment surgery, suffers serious internal injuries
She flew to Izmir for the £8,000 operation, but suffered internal injuries on the journey home
Shona had flown out to Ekol Hastanesi in Izmir for the £8,000 sex swap operation.
'For me going abroad was the only option but on the journey home the problems began.
'By the time I reached Manchester Airport railway station I was in much pain and distress.
Her temperature spiked and she was admitted to Blackpool Victoria Hospital as an emergency case.
'It was a nightmare from beginning to end, there were times in there when I thought I might die.
'I waited for around 12 hours in a wheelchair to be seen in A and E and then they couldn't decide whether I should be seen by the urology department or gynaecology, they seemed to have no idea what to do.
'When an operation was carried out to debride the infected wound, too much tissue was removed and caused a new wound which required corrective surgery.
'I was also administered a drug I was allergic to which caused seizures. It was a horrific experience.'
Shona's surgeon in Turkey said she needed to urgently fly back to Izmir for corrective surgery after hearing of her ordeal in Blackpool.
After corrective surgery and lengthy recuperation in Izmir, Shona has now returned to Blackpool.
Huge clampdown on Turkish clinics luring Brits abroad for cheap plastic surgery
- Thousands of Brits, particularly in their 20s and 30s, flock to Turkey each year
- Slick videos lure Brits to Turkey for cut-price plastic surgery
- British surgeons have raised the alarm about the rising NHS multi-million bill of fixing botched cosmetic ops performed overseas
The action comes amid a rise in patients looking to travel abroad for the likes of liposuction, breast augmentation and 'Brazilian butt lifts'. Turkish clinics offer packages including VIP airport transfers in 'luxury vehicles' and 5-star hotel stays.
Many adverts on social media downplay the risks of surgery, exaggerate the benefits and prey of people's vulnerabilities.
Others pressure people into making rash decisions with time-limited offers.
'Cosmetic surgery is a serious decision and ads should reflect that.
'With any procedure there's always a chance that things can go wrong.
'Botched surgery can lead to significant, life-changing harms and, in worst case scenarios, death.
The ads broke a number of rules, including failing to make potential risks clear; trivialising the decision to undergo surgery; making misleading claims around safety; and making misleading claims about the credentials of doctors.
Ad firms place the focus on hotel stays, flights and holidays, rather than the surgery itself, as this has the effect of 'detracting from the seriousness of surgery'.
They promise customers the 'body you have always dreamed of'''. Not all before and after photos are genuine.
Health minister Maria Caulfield said: 'All cosmetic procedures carry risks and we are cracking down on irresponsible adverts aimed at vulnerable people in the UK.
'Anyone considering a medical procedure abroad should research the standards and qualifications that apply in the country they are travelling to before making a decision.'
'My breasts were empty pockets and my arms had wings' - The hellish consequences of my 12 stone weight loss and why surgery in Turkey was my biggest mistake
It was a decision she now bitterly regrets. Not only did she wake from her 11-hour operation in unbearable pain, Hannah says she has 'permanent nerve damage in both arms'.
'I have pain down my arms like I'm being stabbed, and bad pins and needles constantly. I cannot even lift my arms to certain positions.'
Experts say they are seeing increasing numbers of cases like Hannah's, and are warning people who are considering surgery to be aware of the potential downsides.
In 2022, Hannah saw ads on social media for surgery in Turkey. 'It cost a third of the price of that in the UK, and people were posting pictures looking incredible afterwards,' she says.
Hannah opted for a breast lift and to have sagging skin on her stomach and bingo wings removed at a clinic in Ankara.
'When I came to, I heard a woman screaming in agony — and realised it was me,' Hannah recalls. Despite being in terrible pain and 'convulsing with the shock' the hospital wanted to discharge her that same day.
She flew home five days later.
'My arms had terrible scars.
Over the next few months, she developed agonising pain in her arms. However, because the operation had been carried out abroad, her GP told her the NHS was unable to help.
Hannah saw a plastic surgeon privately, who diagnosed nerve damage. 'But they couldn't do any surgery on my arms as it would worsen the pain,' she says.
UK plastic surgeons are seeing more and more similar cases.
'The complication rate of this type of surgery is massive: probably between 50 and 100 per cent of patients will get complications.
'This type of surgery needs close, continuous follow-up care from a qualified team that includes nurses, physiotherapists and surgeons' .
'When people go abroad, they can't get that. Three or four days after the operation, these patients are back on the plane, often with drains hanging out of their bodies, and the advice they're given is to go and see their GP for any concerns.
'But the NHS doesn't take on people who have complications from surgery in the private sector unless they are going to die from those complications [such as open wounds or infections].
'Follow-up treatments should be agreed between the patient and surgeon before the initial operation. Unfortunately, patients are often not aware of this.
'With the high complication rate of body contouring surgery, you're throwing loaded dice if you travel to another country.'
My daughter died in a botched weight-loss operation - the surgeons took her money and left her to die: Brit girl's grieving mother slams Turkish clinic after 20-year-old died in agony after undergoing £2,500 surgery
- Morgan Ribeiro underwent weight loss surgery in Turkey
The grief-stricken mother of a young British woman who died after a botched weight-loss operation has accused the cosmetic surgery clinic in Turkey of 'taking her money and leaving her to die'.
Morgan Ribeiro flew to Turkey to undergo a gastric sleeve operation after suffering years of bullying about her weight.
But the 20-year-old from south London died from complications in a Serbian hospital after her return flight to Britain had to make an emergency landing in Belgrade when she became severely unwell.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Morgan's heartbroken mother Erin Gibson has condemned the cosmetic surgery clinic for releasing her daughter from the hospital in Istanbul just three days after the botched operation, while she was suffering an infection.
'No mother should have to go through the pain that I am going through,' she told MailOnline.
'She [Morgan] paid £2,500 to a company in Switzerland but the operation was done in Turkey. But they botched the operation. After the plane made an emergency landing in Serbia the doctors there found that they had perforated her small intestine. The surgeon shouldn't have been anywhere near there. And she had got an infection from the operation.
'There was no way Morgan should have been discharged from hospital after only three days following such a complicated procedure. They took her money, and they left her to die.
'She was interested in the bargain price. The clinic only highlights the successes, not the failures.
'If I had had known I would have shown her the risks.
She added: 'The Serbian doctors and authorities have been great.
'They told me this is the third time a plane carrying a British cosmetic surgery patient has had to make an emergency landing in Belgrade because of medical complications.
In advance of the procedure, Morgan had had a virtual consultation with the Turkish company in September 2023 before booking the January operation.
Her boyfriend James claims that hospital staff and translators speaking to her did not mention the dangers associated with the operation prior to Morgan going under the knife.
Young mother Demi Agoglia, 26, has also died this year after surgery in Turkey
Morgan's tragic death comes days after a 26-year-old mother-of-three died days after a Brazilian bum-lift operation in Turkey.
Demi Agoglia of Salford, Greater Manchester, became ill despite doctors initially declaring her surgery successful.
The 26-year-old, who had a seven-month-old baby boy, first said she felt unwell just hours before she was due to return to Manchester, The Sun reported.
The young woman was taken into intensive care but was tragically pronounced dead last Monday.
The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) found 324 Brits have needed medical treatment or corrective surgery after having gone under the knife overseas since 2018.
Turkey was the largest source of botched ops.
Almost 80 per cent of Brits who needed corrective ops in the last year were treated originally in surgical tourism hubs like Istanbul and Ankara.
Brits who head abroad for cut-price surgery are coming home with life-threatening infections, implants bursting through the skin and blood clots.
Some are even returning with antibiotic-resistant bugs, medics warned.
Such bacteria are known to leap between patients in hospital settings, triggering potentially fatal infections.
An estimated 12,000 Brits are killed by drug-resistant bacteria every year.
At least 25 Brits have died as a result of medical tourism trips to Turkey since January 2019, according to the Government's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Here, MailOnline highlights some of the victims.
Leah Cambridge
Leah Cambridge, 29, suffered a blood clot during a £6,500 Brazilian butt lift surgery in Turkey.
Leah Cambridge, 29, died after having the 'Brazilian butt lift' procedure in Turkey
The mother-of-three, from Leeds, died just one day after travelling to an Elite Aftercare clinic in Turkey in August 2018.
The trainee beautician, described as being 'paranoid about her body', paid in cash for the procedure after being inspired by pictures on Instagram.
The procedure involved having fat extracted from the waist and injected into the buttocks.
But she suffered a fatal complication when fat was accidentally injected into a vein causing her to have three heart attacks on the operating table.
Ms Cambridge's partner Scott Franks told Wakefield Coroner's Court that the surgeon who carried out the procedure told him he had 'injected the fat too far into the muscle and it entered her veins'.
Mr Franks said when he flew out to Turkey after his partner died, Dr Ali Uckan, the surgeon who treated Leah, had told him: 'It's a guessing game, you can't see where you are going into.'
Ms Cambridge father, Craig, took his own life in 2021 with an inquest held in July last year hearing how he was never able to get past the loss of his daughter.
Diarra Akua Eunice Brown
Diarra Brown, 28, died after having liposuction in Turkey
Diarra Akua Eunice Brown, died aged 28, two days after getting liposuction at a clinic in the suburb of Bahcelievler in Istanbul, in October 2021.
She reportedly underwent the operation to have fat removed from her hips.
While the procedure initially appeared to be a success, Ms Brown 'suddenly' fell ill while having her dressings changed.
She died just hours later.
Social media posts from family and friends described her as a 'beautiful soul' and a 'close friend'.
'This must be a dream,' one post said. 'Still can't come to terms with this yet.'
'I miss you angel. I'm devastated you were taken away way before your time,' said another.
Shannon Bowe
Shannon Bowe, 28 died after undergoing gastric band surgery in Turkey
Shannon Bowe, from Denny, near Falkirk, died while undergoing gastric band surgery in Turkey in April 2023.
The 28-year-old passed away during the procedure which involves placing a band around the stomach.
Where exactly Ms Bowe had the procedure in Turkey and the complication that led to her death have not been revealed.
In the aftermath of her death, Ms Bowe's boyfriend Ross Stirling wrote on social media: 'Sleep tight my angel, love you forever and always.'
Gastric band surgery involves a doctor placing a gastric band around the top of the stomach, creating a small pouch.
When the patient eats, this small pouch fills up more quickly than their stomach normally would, making them feel fuller with less food.
By encouraging them to eat less, the procedure can help patients lose weight.
Melissa Kerr
Melissa Kerr, 31, of Gorleston, Norfolk, died after having a BBL in Turkey
Melissa Kerr, 31, died while undergoing a Brazilian butt lift in Turkey in 2019, just before her wedding.
Ms Kerr traveled to Istanbul's Medicana Haznedar Hospital in November that year for gluteal augmentation, which can cost up to £3,150.
The psychological wellbeing practitioner, from Gorleston, Norfolk, died from a blocked artery in her lung as a result of undergoing the surgery.
Her twin sister Natasha who set up a justgiving.com page after her death described her a 'a pure and beautiful soul inside and out'.
She said: 'Words cannot describe the pain and heartbreak we are going through, life without her will never be the same again.
'We miss her deeply and nothing will fill the emptiness we are left with.'
Melissa's partner Skye Birch said: 'I will continue to love you with all my heart until my last breath.'
Ms Kerr also worked as a volunteer helping domestic violence victims and supporting people through bereavement.
Abimbola Ajoke Bamgbose
Abimbola Ajoke Bamgbose, 38, died after liposuction in Turkey
Abimbola Ajoke Bamgbose, a 38-year-old social worker, from Dartford, Kent, died in August 2020 after undergoing liposuction surgery in Turkey.
The mother-of-three bought an overseas package deal with Mono Cosmetic Surgery after becoming fed-up with people asking her if she was pregnant, according to her husband.
A post-mortem examination found that Mrs Bamgbose suffered perforations to her bowel during the surgery, with the cause of death given as peritonitis with multiple organ failure.
Peritonitis is an infection of the peritoneum, the inner lining of the tummy which covers vital internal organs like the kidneys, liver and bowel.
Her husband Moyosore Olowo told an inquest he was unaware his wife had traveled abroad for cosmetic surgery, instead believing she had simply gone on a holiday with her friends.
It was not until Mrs Bamgbose called her husband to say she was suffering from stomach pains following the procedure that he found out what had happened.
Mr Olowo said his wife had visited a private medical practice in the UK for surgery but added that the cost had been too high for her to have the treatment in Britain.
Carol Keenan
Carol Keenan, 54, died after having a BBL and tummy tuck in Turkey
Carol Keenan, 54, died six days after undergoing a combined Brazilian butt lift and tummy tuck in Turkey.
The grandmother, of Glenrothes, Fife, paid £7,000 for the procedures at a private hospital in Istanbul in 2022 after becoming anxious about the way her body looked.
Ms Keenan also accepted the offer of free abdominal muscle repair surgery shortly before she was taken into the operating theatre.
But she died before she was due to have a final check up and fly home.
Speaking to MailOnline in April, her family said they are still waiting for the results of her autopsy 11 months on from her death.
Her daughter Leonie Keenan, 32, said: 'My mother was a fit and healthy individual. She was a very petite size 10 and she kept in shape by walking everywhere and going swimming.
'She was a very active grandmother who loved bouncing on the trampoline with the kids-but she was not happy with her body even though everyone told her she looked great.
'She set her heart on having surgery after seeing stories about other people and celebrities having procedures. I don't know if it was like a mid-life crisis.'
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