At 9am, the buffet breakfast begins in earnest at Istanbul’s Valley Hotel. But instead of the typical sunburned tourist sitting in the seat was a limping customer with a bloody bandage.
This four-star hotel in the Asian district of Turkey’s largest city has teamed up with a local cosmetics company to offer tourists plastic surgery as part of their vacation packages. The price is half the price of surgery in the UK and includes all subsequent accommodation costs.
“Most of our customers are British,” says concierge Sinam. “As you can see, this is the only place. [eating] There are 10 people from England. ”
Several men drink Turkish tea and eat eggs with reddish bandages wrapped around their heads after undergoing hair transplant surgery, which uses skin grafts to treat hair loss. Women are supported on recovery pillows after Brazilian butt lift surgery. This is a high-risk surgery that removes fat from other parts of the body to create a rounder butt.
Amy Allen, 36, from Manchester, is staying in a hotel for a week recovering from her second liposuction operation in Turkey. She was traveling with her partner Martin Wood, 41, who is due to have a hair transplant next week, and her son Joshua, four.
Amy Allen and Martin Wood and their son.Couple paid less than £2,000 for his cosmetic tourism package
The family paid less than £2,000 for a cosmetic tourism package from London-based Turkish Company Clinic Center. The deal includes three return flights from Manchester to Istanbul, a two-week stay in a poolside hotel, including breakfast, and both surgeries.
“We’re enjoying our vacation,” Allen says, holding Joshua in the stroller with one hand and holding his bandaged stomach with the other. “The first time I took lipo was[suction] Through this company they did everything wrong. It was swollen and my belly button was ruined. Even after a year, it was still in bad shape.
“I was hesitant to go back, but I just wanted it fixed and Martin wanted to get his hair done. We’ve been here several times for facial Botox treatments. came.”
At the Harley Street clinic in central London, known for its private practices and plastic surgeons, the two surgeries typically cost between £6,000 and £13,000.
Allen admitted that she had second thoughts about doing more work in Turkey after hearing about several deaths in the past year of Europeans said to be related to cosmetics tourism. She said: “Before the surgery I thought I might die this time…and who would be Joshua’s mother? But thankfully everything turned out okay.”
The Foreign Office said it was aware of at least 25 British nationals who had died in Turkey since January 2019 as a result of medical procedures classified as medical tourism.
Longevita, which claims to be the UK’s largest provider of cosmetic tourism packages to Turkey, says more than one million people from all over the world come for the procedure each year. Its director, Kagan Seymenoglu, said the office sends 5,000 people from the UK each year.
Hair transplant patients wear headbands to enjoy Istanbul’s nightlife
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The Ministry of Health and Social Care held an emergency meeting with Turkish authorities in November after a report was written to “prevent future deaths” in the case of Melissa Kerr, 31, who died after buttock enlargement surgery in Istanbul last year. He told the Times that it was held. . The coroner said Ms Carr was provided limited contact with her doctor before her surgery and was not briefed about her risks or high mortality rate, she wrote.
The Brazilian butt lift has the highest mortality rate of any cosmetic surgery procedure because the injected fat can cause blood vessel blockages in the lungs, known as pulmonary embolism. Demi Agoria, a 26-year-old woman from Manchester, died days after undergoing surgery in Turkey last month.
Morgan Ribeiro, 20, also died last month after undergoing weight loss surgery in Turkey. She had traveled to the countryside to undergo a £2,500 gastric sleeve operation with her boyfriend because she didn’t want to wait years for an NHS procedure.
The Department of Health and Social Care said it continues to work with Turkey’s Ministry of Health on the safety of Brits traveling for cosmetic surgery.
Turkey has become a popular destination for surgeries as patients claim they can take time off
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Gabby Elzur, 28, from north London, who had butt enlargement surgery a year ago, said it was “traumatic”. [she] I had a near-death experience in Istanbul.
She flew to Turkey feeling “blown away” by a “Brazilian butt lift” performed by a British surgeon. They suggested her an alternative procedure using superficial buttock lipofilling, following new guidance from the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons.
Erzur, who asked for his name to be changed for personal reasons, said a Turkish surgeon did not give him a proper examination. “When I arrived, we only spoke for two minutes. He was marking me like an animal and trying to get me to undergo more surgery than we had agreed to. I wanted to ask a question. I didn’t have time.”
Erzl claimed the procedure went “very wrong” after damaging her femoral artery, causing massive bleeding and fat necrosis in one of her legs – a serious complication that causes skin cells to die and turn black.
“I lost so much blood that I needed two transfusions. Then I woke up and my legs were black and weren’t working. Two days later, I still couldn’t walk and I wasn’t conscious. There wasn’t much, but my luggage didn’t include hospital bills, so the nurse kicked me out.”
Beauty treatments in Turkey are often much cheaper than in the UK
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She spent four weeks in a hotel affiliated with the clinic, and had to hire two nurses a day to help care for her. “The hotel staff were nice. They dealt with the surgeon’s accident. They knew to check me in.”
She said: “My butt doesn’t look good, it’s lumpy and discolored. I’ve been encouraged to have it fixed, but it’s not what I deserve in life. Help other girls I’m sharing this story because I don’t want to travel to another country to have surgery. That’s the worst mistake I’ve ever made.
The Advertising Practice Committee has warned foreign cosmetic surgery providers to follow UK rules when advertising their services. The advertising watchdog said it had noticed a surge in “irresponsible advertising” that trivialized surgery and breached regulations.
Many of these ads did not make the risks clear or made misleading claims about safety or doctors’ qualifications, the watchdog group said.
The Turkish Ministry of Health has been contacted for comment.
