I thought I was going to die after having cheap surgery to make my bum look like Kim Kardashian’s, says Anna Vakili
SOBBING in pain on the shower floor, with blood gushing out of my stomach, I was convinced I was going to die.
It was three days after my second Brazilian butt lift in as many years — but this terrifying ordeal was a world away from the first.
I’d tried to do it on the cheap, seduced by a Turkish clinic at less than half the price I’d paid in London two years earlier.
You can get a BBL in Turkey for less than £3,000. But there was a reason it cost so little.
And four years on, I still can’t believe I cut so many corners and put my life at risk — all for the sake of a bigger bum.
The BBL is the fastest-growing cosmetic surgery, with the number performed globally up by 78 per cent since 2015. But it’s also the most dangerous.
Read more on cosmetic surgery
Statistics show that one in 3,000 result in death. And the three British women who have died following complications in the past four years all had their surgery in Turkey — just like me.
My own journey started in 2016 when big bums were really in.
I booked in for a BBL — where fat is transferred from other areas of the body to the bottom — at a top London clinic, taking out a bank loan to pay for it.
In the UK, this surgery costs between £6,000 and £8,000. But in hindsight I can see I was doing it for all the wrong reasons.
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Following a trend is never good grounds for having such drastic, irreversible surgery.
That said, I had thoroughly researched every aspect and I was comforted by the knowledge the clinic was highly reputable and my surgeon was one of the best in England.
And to be honest, I was thrilled with the results.
It didn’t actually make much difference to the size of my bum — British clinics tend to err on the side of caution, which helps make them safe — but it gave me a really nice shape.
Surgery can be addictive, however. You think it’s possible to go a little bit further and feel even better and you end up striving for perfection which, in reality, doesn’t exist.
Crime scene
In 2018, my younger sister Mandi and I decided to go for our second BBLs. And as we’d heard it was cheaper abroad, we looked at Turkey.
This was before I went on Love Island in 2019.
We found a clinic that seemed excellent value. Their Instagram looked smart and we convinced each other it would be fine.
I actually can’t get my head round the fact we went ahead on that basis — we were so immature.
Before I went on Love Island I worked as a pharmacist, a career I returned to during the pandemic, so I’m not daft and I generally have my head screwed on.
But my sister and I are always bad influences on each other and we told our mum we were just off on holiday.
If she’d known what we were going to do, she would have been furious and tried to stop us.
At the clinic, Mandi went in for her surgery first. When she came round after the op, it was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen.
She was screaming and her body was shaking like crazy, as if she was having an epileptic fit.
We found a clinic that seemed excellent value. Their Instagram looked smart and we convinced each other it would be fine. I actually can’t get my head round the fact we went ahead on that basis — we were so immature.
I was up next and as they wheeled me down to theatre, I was beyond frightened.
When I was brought round after the four-hour operation, I had the same reaction as Mandi.
And our overnight stay was equally horrific. We were vomiting non-stop and in so much pain that not even morphine touched the sides.
The language barrier made it difficult to communicate with the staff and we were basically left to fend for ourselves before being discharged the next day.
During the journey back to the hotel, neither of us knew if we’d make it. It was that scary.
The doctor had told us we could remove the dressings and have a shower, which I thought was strange because that was definitely not the advice I’d had in the UK.
But I was desperate to wash so I got in the shower and took off the dressings.
Blood started going everywhere, I felt I was going to faint and collapsed on to the shower floor.
Mandi was screaming in panic but managed to drag me to the bed where she tried to stem the blood and fluids with a towel.
We knew we needed to reapply my dressings, but they were soaking wet from the shower and so while I lay on the bed, Mandi was desperately trying to dry them with the hairdryer.
Eventually, the blood stopped and I came back round with the help of a sugary drink, but the room looked like a crime scene.
We spent the next few days recovering and worrying about what we were going to tell our mum when we flew home.
We never had any contact with the clinic again. There was no after-care, which shows they really were not bothered about us once they had our cash.
Once we got back to the UK and the swelling had gone down, I was happy with my bigger bum but I’ve been left with some pretty awful scarring.
Blood started going everywhere, I felt I was going to faint and collapsed on to the shower floor. Mandi was screaming in panic but managed to drag me to the bed where she tried to stem the blood and fluids with a towel.
Despite all this, I’m not anti-cosmetic surgery. But I’d urge anyone considering it to really think about why you want it.
Don’t do it to follow a trend or make your boyfriend happy — you are worth much more than that.
And remember that what is on trend today might not be this time next year.
I don’t think the big bum is even in any more — even Kim K’s seems to be getting smaller.
It’s also important to remember that surgery equals more surgery. I got my boobs done in 2013, going from a B-cup to an E, but they became really heavy.
So last year I had to get them lifted.
And now I think my nipples are too high so I’m seriously thinking about changing that.
I know, crazy, right?
But once you start messing around with your body then you’re on a path where things are going to have to be fixed or maintained or changed again — and any of that could go wrong.
If I could go back in time I would have stopped after the first BBL and just gone to the gym to build up my bum instead.
The ideal scenario is that we all go through life without surgery, accepting ourselves for the way we are and being confident and happy with that.
Respect your body
Loving yourself inside and out is the best way to live, but I know first-hand that is not possible for everyone. Some insecurities are too deep-set.
But if you decide to have any procedure, the very least you owe yourself is to do your research.
There’s a really good website — — where people record their experiences of different procedures and surgeons.
Knowledge is power, so ask questions, speak to people in the know, talk to your family, share your fears, think long and hard about your reasons and respect your body.
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And remember that if the price sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
As told to Beth Neil
