After Brit mum Leah Cambridge died having a Brazilian bum lift in Turkey, we speak to victims of cosmetic procedures gone wrong and investigate what really goes on behind closed doors
POUTING at her phone camera while she lies on the bed in her luxury room in a private cosmetic surgery clinic in Turkey, former TOWIE star Lauren Goodger updated her 790K Instagram followers with a quick selfie before her surgery.
The 31-year-old Essex girl was having Vaser, a non-surgical liposuction procedure to remove fat from her body after admitting that she was "sick of bad pictures" and felt her body had areas of "lumps and bumps".
But today, the same clinic - the Elite Aftercare Cosmetic Surgery Clinic in Turkey- is in the news for altogether different reasons, after it emerged that a British mum-of-three died after a botched Brazilian bum lift there.
Beautician Leah Cambridge, 29, from Leeds, collapsed shortly after the start of the £3,000 op at the clinic in Izmir, where Lauren Goodger had posted a glowing endorsement last year.
However, the news of Leah's death casts a new light on the world of cut-price Turkish cosmetic surgery - a common destination for celebs looking for cheap procedures.
And with famous faces quick to big up their results, there are concerns that more Brits could end up facing the same dangers which are thought to have killed tragic Leah.
From the woman who was left with one eye bigger that the other to the ladies returning home with gaping holes in their bodies, we speak to the women who have had botched surgery jobs done abroad.
Worryingly, a recent investigation found Turkey to be the worst country in the world for botched operations.
More than 1000 British women a year arrive home from surgery abroad with issues such as wound infection, dodgy implants and even gaping holes in their skin.
Four out of five UK cosmetic surgeons are dealing with more corrective cases than ever and it’s costing the NHS more than £30million to correct.
"I see around ten patients a month who have had cosmetic surgery in a clinic somewhere like Turkey and have returned home with problems, some of which are life-threatening," says Dr Riccardo Frati, Medical Director of Transform Cosmetic Surgery.
"I’ve even seen some of the celebrities who are paid by these clinics to advertise their surgery and who have then ended up with problems themselves.
"Many of these clinics are offering cheap deals on Instagram or Facebook, often for less than half the price of UK surgery.
"But you cannot guarantee the same quality of care. A good surgeon should always meet their patient before surgery to assess them clinically, but I’ve heard that some of these surgeons do their assessments over Skype.
"I’ve seen some very bad outcomes – implant rejection, haematoma and wound infection."
In the UK, all clinics and surgeons are monitored and inspected by the Care Quality Commission, an independent regulator. But in many countries overseas, no such regulation exists.
"Surgeons can operate without insurance in Turkey," says Dr Frati. "They could operate in a garage if they wanted to and from the amount of wound infection I see from patients operated on in Turkish clinics, I wouldn’t be surprised if the instruments aren't properly sterilised."
According to Dr Frati, the most popular types of operation performed in Turkish clinics are nose jobs, liposuction, buttock lifts and breast augmentations. But many patients are returning to the UK with problems.
Patients like Jade Stafford, 25, who wanted to get a bum like Kim Kardashaian so flew out to Turkey for a £3000 operation to take fat form her back and tum to pump into her bottom.
But on the four-day trip, she nearly died on the operating table.
The mother-of-two from Stafford came around from surgery in agony and flew home after two days to see her GP who immediately sent her to hospital with collapsed lungs and an erratic heartbeat.
Medics said that bruising on her chest was a tell-tale sign that she had been given CPR following a cardiac arrest – but she was never told by the Turkish surgeon that she’d almost lost her life. It was a claim the clinic denied.
"I was furious the bottom op people had just fobbed me off saying I must have had an allergic reaction to morphine," she said, and has consulted solicitors about suing the clinic.
Another unhappy patient, Julie Lambert, 60, from Selston in Nottinghamshire, flew to Turkey for eye surgery, a breast augmentation and neck lift.
She paid £4,000 for her surgery, around a fifth of what it would have cost her in the UK. But she was left with a wound that would not heal and deformed earlobes.
Julie, a 60-year-old nurse, said she felt physically and emotionally scarred by the operation.
"I now have to cover my neck as I have a two-inch hard lumpy scar," she said. "I am embarrassed as a nurse that I was manipulated by these people and trusted them."
Jean Nuttall, 60, of Chesterfield Derbyshire had eyelift surgery and fat transfers to her face for which she paid £1,200, less than a fifth of what it would have cost in the UK.
But she has been left with one eye bigger than the other and the fat moved to her face vanished after two months.
She said: "People were all wearing normal clothes and not scrubs.
"I had my shoes on with my dress lifted as they began to take fat from my stomach. He injected the fat into my face, then cut my eye.
"I have never experienced pain as horrific as that."
As well as the lack of regulation, experts say that many Turkish surgeons seem focused on money rather than the care of their patients.
"These clinics are volume-based, meaning they want to get as many patients as possible," says Gill Baird, owner of Cosmedicare Cosmetic Surgery.
"Once the financial transaction has taken place and the surgery is over, from what I’ve seen the patient becomes secondary.
"In the UK, most cosmetic surgeons will offer a good standard of aftercare, with local staff in the area to help with wound management. This is an absolutely vital part of the surgery process but it’s simply not happening with clinics abroad.
"We recently heard of one young woman who developed sepsis which can prove fatal. She had gone to Turkey for low price surgery and used all her savings"
Dr Frati agrees. "I’ve known patients come home and have problems but when they try to contact the clinic, the line goes dead.
"They stop responding to emails, they are blocked from Facebook groups, the clinics simply stop engaging. Because there’s no regulation, the patients have no comeback."
According to the Advertising Standards Authority, clinics abroad are allowed to advertise on social media like any other clinic – but there are rules.
"If we considered an ad was making light or trivialising a decision to undergo a serious surgical procedure or that it was irresponsibly targeting vulnerable or under-age consumers, then we can and will act," says a spokesperson.
However, Gill Baird is worried that clinics are influencing younger women with their use of social media stars.
"The regulatory authorities don’t appear to have the same control over clinics abroad and they are targeting young women over Facebook with their campaigns heavily focusing on the cost saving elements of surgery abroad," she says.
"At the moment there’s a campaign from one of the Turkish clinics on Facebook that shows a list of surgeries and their price in the UK compared to their price – and often it’s less than half.
For instance, a tummy tuck in a British clinic should cost around £6,000 but in Turkey, you can get one for half the price."
The low-cost and the lack of waiting time means medical tourism continues to rise.
The latest government statistics show the number of people going abroad for healthcare – including cosmetic surgery and dentistry – has increased from 48,000 in 2014 to almost 144,000 in 2016. But health experts are urging caution.
"Patients travelling outside of the UK for cosmetic surgery should conduct extensive research before making any commitments," says Christine Mozzamdar, head of operations at The Hospital Group, which has 15 clinics across the UK.
"They need to ensure they know the name of their surgeon, thoroughly check their clinical credentials and have full understanding of the aftercare options following their surgery, particularly in the case of an emergency."
Lauren is by no means the only glamorous celebrity to jet off to the Eastern European hotspot for surgery.
Last summer, fellow Towie star Yazmin Oukellou, 24, visited the same clinic and had a nose job.
"I had a previous broken nose so surgery was the only option for me," she said told her 292,000 Instagram followers. "It has only been two weeks and I can already see the results are going to be amazing."
Model and CBB star Chloe Khan, 26, had a Brazilian butt lift at the same clinic.
Clearly thrilled with the results, she was spotted showing off her freshly inflated behind in a gold bikini and later shared highly personal "before" and "after" pictures showing her naked bottom to 1.2million followers.
Love Island’s Malin Andersson, 23, also admitted she had had £7,000 worth of surgery including a Brazilian but lift, a breast uplift and dental surgery at a clinic in Turkey.
It seems that if you’re a minor celebrity who wants a nip ‘n’ tuck, Turkey is the place to go.
But while the procedures abroad may seem cheap - they often ending up costing more than patients could ever imagine.
Gill Baird of Cosmedicare says: "Don't base your decision simply on information the provider has given you. You could be risking your life."
