I was left in agony after a ‘slaughterhouse’ plastic surgeon botched my £2k boob job – I was leaking pus for months
A MUM-of-three, who appears on Send Nudes: Body SOS tonight, has revealed how she was left in agony from a “slaughterhouse” plastic surgery in Turkey.
Stephanie Briggs, 31, wept tears of joy on the E4 film set when host Vogue Williams showed her a CGI of herself with smaller boobs - but the show made her even more desperate to go under the knife.
The single mum had been dreaming of a lower cup size for 15 years before signing up to the cosmetic surgery show as a last resort.
But now Stephanie has a terrifying warning for other big busted women after suffering “the worst week of her life” undergoing surgery in Turkey.
She told The Sun how she suffered through a gruelling nine hour operation in a terrifying Turkish hospital that felt “like a slaughterhouse”.
The 31-year-old booked a breast reduction and mastoplasty over Whatsapp for £1950 which included two nights stay in hospital and transfers - she said she couldn’t afford one anywhere else.
The on-the-cheap boob reduction not only left the 31-year-old in agony for next few days, but also plagued her with countless infections for weeks afterwards.
She has large scars under her breasts which are numb and doesn’t know if she’ll ever get feeling back.
Stephanie said: “I felt like I’d been battered to be honest. I was in absolute agony.
“There wasn’t even like proper pain killers out there. They gave me paracetamol but when it feels like a 10 stone ton of bricks on top of you, paracetamol doesn’t do much.
“The doors were open on the way, you could see people with their bellies open and surgeons standing over them, which was daunting.
“I remembered lying under the light on the table thinking this is like a slaughterhouse and I'm going to die in here.
“I was surrounded by men who didn’t really speak much English.”
Her 13-year-old daughter had to wait alone upstairs for nine hours with no idea if her mum was ok. Eventually mum Stephanie returned in bandages and tears.
“I looked like Madonna when she had the cone boobs,” Stephanie remembered.
The pair claimed they spent the next few days with terrible food and hardly any communication.
Stephanie wasn’t even told that smoking would slow her recovery and increase her chances of infection.
She said: “I was standing outside with two drains hanging out of my boobs smoking a fag.
I didn’t think it was five star or whatever, but nobody was checking in to see if I was ok.
Stephanie Briggs
“Breakfast was olives, a bit of cheese and a tomato.
“I didn’t think it was five star or whatever, but nobody was checking in to see if I was ok.”
Even back in the UK, Stephanie’s hell continued as she caught infection after infection and was forced to go to hospital.
“I had big holes under my boobs that were leaking pus for months.
“The surgeon [on Whatsapp] said it was fine. It was not fine.
“The amount of bras I went through because of green gunk coming out my breasts.
“I went to the local hospital and one of the nurses told me, ‘So you’ve gone to Turkey to get surgery now the NHS has to sort you out?’”
“I felt bad - I shouldn’t have to feel bad. I didn’t know.”
Now Stephanie is desperate for others to learn from her mistakes.
“It was just a nightmare from start to finish,” she said.
It was just a nightmare from start to finish
Stephanie Briggs
“You’re better off paying the extra six grand. You get what you pay for.
“Make sure you know what you’re getting yourself into. I never could in a million years have imagined it would be this bad. Do lots and lots of research.”
Stephanie said how her teary appearance on the E4 programme made her crave surgery more than ever, saying she “needed” it after seeing a life-sized avatar of herself with her dream boobs.
Since her teenage years, Stephanie had hated her 34G sized breasts which gave her back pain and “hung to her belly button”.
She wished she could wear “normal bras” or backless dresses, and was heartbroken when an ex called her boobs “saggy”.
In the first episode of the new series, which airs at 10.15pm tonight, Stephanie said she sobbed out of low self esteem.
“It was just sort of seeing myself,” she said. “I didn’t like to look at myself in the mirror without clothes. To see myself there, it was awful.
“I just cried, I couldn't even look at them. They looked like a fifty-year-old woman’s.
“It was all about body confidence. I’m not bothered what anyone else thinks.
“I was just crying my eyes out. I was sobbing.”
They were heavy, they made my back hurt. They affected my mental health as well.
Stephanie Briggs
The show was a last resort for Stephanie after years of trying to get the surgery. She said she had turned to her doctor and even reached out to banks for a loan without any luck.
She said: “It was just a nightmare. I got knocked back from everywhere.
“They were heavy, they made my back hurt. They affected my mental health as well.”
But when Stephanie approached her doctor, she said their response was: “You have a pretty face you don’t need perky boobs - or something along those lines.”
The single mum couldn’t afford the boob job herself.
She said: “I had to get a loan to get this out. I’m trying to pay this off weekly.
“My financial situation is absolutely c*** to be honest. I could never afford to get this done in England.”
Four months after the horrific ordeal, Stephanie luckily feels more confident in her body.
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She said she is still numb under her boobs but can finally wear backless tops or go without a bra.
The mum even walks around her home topless and when her kids object she says, “I have nearly bankrupted myself for these."