Woman launches fundraising bid after being ‘butchered’ by ‘botched’ cosmetic surgery in Turkey

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A woman has claimed she was left fighting for life after ‘botched’ cosmetic surgery in Turkey saw her body ‘mutilated’.

A woman has claimed she was left fighting for her life after undergoing ‘botched’ cosmetic surgery in Turkey. Sara Platt, 32 said she lost her right breast after splashing out £14,000 for a tummy tuck, breast implant and three other procedures through a cosmetic surgery agency in Antalya earlier this year.

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However the mum-of-four claims she was left ‘mutilated’ by the 13-hour operation which caused her right breast to necrose and ‘die’ and left a gaping, infected wound in her stomach. She claims she was rushed into surgery following the op after brown liquid started to ooze from the wound.

She admitted lying to the doctor about giving him a positive review as she feared she would not be allowed to fly home if she didn’t. After returning to the UK, she was rushed to hospital after her wound became infected and she needed eight operations to save her life.

She has now launched a fundraising campaign for surgery to correct the damage done to her body and to sue the Turkish surgeon. Sara, from Llanharan, south Wales, says she now can’t look at her own body and has nightmares.

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She said: "I’m not the person I was. I was very confident and strong and outgoing. Now I’m terrified of everything. I can’t shower because I can’t face looking at my own body. I have these horrible dreams about getting killed in hospitals, drowned in blood. I haven’t been outside in seven weeks. I get triggered by everything.”

Sara says her nightmare began after she was fitted with a gastric sleeve to lose weight after hitting 24 stone in September 2021 from steroid treatment for her endometriosis. However, after losing 12 stone she was left with ‘intolerable’ excess skin which developed boils and blisters from rubbing.

She booked a tummy tuck surgery in Turkey to remove it after 17 months of researching different surgeons. However, she says the surgery should have given her a new lease of life but  ‘has left her with a butchered body’.

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Sara says the surgery led her to lose her right breast after the tissue turned black and died and 30% of her left breast also had to be removed. Sara claims the surgeon removed too much of her stomach skin, leaving a gaping wound that needed skin grafts from her legs. Two months later, the hole is still gaping open.

Sara Platt during happier times (L) and her right breast died and she contracted an anti-biotic resistant infection after a ’botched’€™ Turkish cosmetic surgery (R). (Sara Platt / SWNS)Sara Platt during happier times (L) and her right breast died and she contracted an anti-biotic resistant infection after a ’botched’€™ Turkish cosmetic surgery (R). (Sara Platt / SWNS)
Sara Platt during happier times (L) and her right breast died and she contracted an anti-biotic resistant infection after a ’botched’€™ Turkish cosmetic surgery (R). (Sara Platt / SWNS) | Sara Platt / SWNS

Arriving back in the UK a month later after a trip which was supposed to take two weeks, Sara was close to death’s door having contracted an often treatment-resistant infection which likely came from the Turkish hospital.

Five ‘tuck’ procedures at once

Despite her concerns, the doctor at the hospital in Antalya said he could do all five ‘tuck’ procedures at once- a tummy tuck, an arm lift, an back lift, a 360 upper body lift and a breast lift with implants. She woke up from the 13-hour surgery in agony and worried about a lump in the middle of the chest that "looked like a third boob".

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Sara said they then put her in a compression suit that was too small and so tight she struggled to breathe. She said she asked to see the doctor for nine days about the pain, suit and lump on her chest.

Sara’s right breast died and she contracted an anti-biotic resistant infection after a ‘botched’ Turkish cosmetic surgery. (Sara Platt / SWNS)Sara’s right breast died and she contracted an anti-biotic resistant infection after a ‘botched’ Turkish cosmetic surgery. (Sara Platt / SWNS)
Sara’s right breast died and she contracted an anti-biotic resistant infection after a ‘botched’ Turkish cosmetic surgery. (Sara Platt / SWNS) | Sara Platt / SWNS

When he finally agreed to see her, brown liquid had started coming out of her stomach wounds and he told her she needed corrective surgery straight away. They rushed her to a clinic room rather than an operation theatre and was told she would be sedated.

She claims she was awake whilst he cut away at her stomach flesh which had started to die and "necrose". He then used a "burning tool" to cauterise the wound. Sara said: "I was begging him to stop. It felt like I was on fire. I saw him drop the tool on the floor, dip it into something and then carry on using it.

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"He told me to just stay still and I was held down by other staff. I passed out from the pain."

Eight corrective surgeries 

Arriving home, Sara was too ashamed and scared to seek help through the NHS.

She instead went to her GP who knew about her issues with weight. The GP was taken aback to see her condition when she lifted up her top.

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She was referred to the Morriston Hospital in Swansea for urgent surgery the following morning, but the evening before the stitches in her stomach ripped open. She was found to have been infected with a drug-resistant organism meaning she had to be isolated from the rest of the hospital, unable to see her children for weeks.

She spent another month in hospital and endured eight corrective surgeries to save her life.

This involved removing most of her breasts, the implants which were too large and using skin grafts to reconstruct her stomach which had too much skin missing.

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Sara said: "I haven’t heard from the doctor since I returned to the UK. He shouldn’t have done all those surgeries at once on me.”

She is now fundraising for her plastic surgery to allow her to move her arms above her shoulders, remove the hunch in her back and reconstruct her breasts which will cost her up to £28,000.

She is also raising £5,000 to help establish a legal case against the surgeon. She said: "The doctor said my right breast was fine when it was black.

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"I’ve since stopped one girl online who was going to go for surgery with him. If I can stop one person from going through what I went through, that’s all I care about. It’s changed me completely as a person. I just want to be with my children. I understand the backlash I will get online with this story. I just want to sue the doctor and stop him from doing this to anyone else."

After Sara started receiving treatment, the Turkish cosmetic agency is alleged to have said in a message to her: "The doctor said that there is no problem caused by the operation, there is no infection, you did not rest after the operation when you should have rested."

Agency denies claims

However, a document from the hospital, signed and stamped by the doctor, stated the surgery "did not go to plan" and would need to be addressed with further surgery in six months.

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The document admitted there were "circulation issues" and that "fatty tissue had been left on the stomach and back which needed removing: "Not all excess skin and fat was removed during the surgery...The back needs to be redone because there is an accumulation of fatty tissue in the middle of the patient’s back causing a humpback."

A spokesman for the agency denied Mrs Platt’s claims and insisted it was simply a third party through which she was put in contact with medical staff. The spokesperson said: "We are saddened to hear that Mrs Platt is holding us responsible for all the issues, but the truth is much different than what she portrays.

"We get all the necessary and legally mandated documents, approvals, and consent forms from her and enlighten her about all the processes prior to performing any procedures.

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Also, we would like to inform you that we are only the agents in this matter. We are not a hospital or doctor in this matter.

"Our entity only mediates between the health entity and the patient. Therefore, we are a different and independent economic entity than the doctor or the hospital. Our services direct patients to the best-qualified health entities.

“In this matter, all the necessary information regarding Mrs Platt’s operation, including information about the operating doctor, hospital, potential side effects, and cautions she had to take into consideration, is explained to Mrs Platt."

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