Danger warning issued to Brits planning to travel abroad for cut-price surgeries

Brits considering travelling abroad for cut price surgeries have been urged to carefully consider the “inherent risks” involved before booking ops after a number of deaths and botched operations.

In recent months the Mirror has reported on several people who have gone to countries such as Turkey where they can get operations for a fraction of the cost and time as in the UK. However many families have been left rueing their relatives’ decisions as in the most severe cases some patients who have opted to travel abroad have died.

In January, Morgan Ribeiro, 20, arrived in Turkey for a £2,500 gastric sleeve after enduring cruel taunts from bullies for several years. However she became unwell on the flight home forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Belgrade where she tragically passed away. Her boyfriend was told by doctors her small intestine had been cut during the operation, leading to an infection and septic shock.

In another tragic case, Melissa Kerr, 31, died on the operating table after travelling to Medicana Kadikoy hospital in Istanbul for a £3,200 Brazilian butt-lift in November 2022. Norfolk’s Coroner’s Court heard last year how she died on the table with a cause of death recorded as a pulmonary thromboembolism. Only last month Leanne Leary died after “complications” on the operating table after a £2,000 weight loss operation.

Now the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons has warned others to carefully consider their options before parting with their money. Nora Nugent, vice president of the group, told the Mirror : “Travelling abroad, for any reason, carries inherent risks such as sudden illness, accidents, and emergencies. This risk is compounded, especially after undergoing elective surgery.

“While standard travel insurance covers unforeseen circumstances for typical trips abroad, obtaining coverage for medical procedures overseas is highly challenging, if not impossible. This presents an additional factor for individuals contemplating overseas surgery to carefully weigh before proceeding.”

In other reported cases many others have been left in agony or trapped in their hospital beds, unable to return home. Among those caught in the nightmare were 43-year-old Leanne O’Driscoll and Chloe Quick. Both travelled to Turkey for weight-loss operations and now find themselves in worse positions. Ms O’Driscoll spent £2,400 on the operation but woke up in agony before flying home where scans showed her spleen had been damaged and her body was in septic shock. Chloe meanwhile was trapped in Turkey for several weeks after falling following her operation, with friends and family fundraising to get her home.

This week Chloe’s friend Leah Mattson shared the welcome update she is home. Writing on the fundraising page, which earned more than £2,500, Leah wrote: “We would like to just inform everybody that Chloe is back home with her family and friends. We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone for the support that has been shown these past couple of weeks will forever be grateful for the love that has been shown.”

She had earlier said: “The surgery seemed to have been a success at first but later that evening Chloe had a sharp pain and a lot of blood gushed into her drain, they asked if it was normal and medical staff told her that it was normal (up until this point of the sharp pain there was no blood in the drain at all).

“Then around 5am Turkish time Chloe went to the bathroom and fainted falling forwards, her dad called for help and medical staff came running and later said she had a bleed and had to take her to ICU to do an endoscopy to discover where the bleed was coming from, Chloe was still awake at this point and instantly said “Noooo, how much is this going to cost?” and they promised and reassured “nothing, it won’t cost any extra’.

“After doing the endoscopy they found the bleed and leak and also found her spleen to have been “ruptured” which they said is from the fall. They had to perform emergency surgery to re-do the Sleeve and repair her spleen, They had to put her into a medically induced coma.”

A Government spokesperson said: “We urge anyone considering a procedure abroad to carefully research the treatment in question, the qualifications of their clinician and the regulations that apply in the country they are travelling to, regardless of where any consultation takes place.

“We would also encourage people to review the UK government’s travel advice, the relevant guidance from the NHS and other relevant professional bodies. It is also important to consider insurance cover, as a specialist policy will be required if medical treatment is planned abroad.”