A woman who went to Turkey to undergo weight loss surgery was forced to “return home to die” due to complications.
To Die For: Cosmetic Surgery in Turkey, airing tonight at 10pm on Virgin Media One, explores the world and the risks of medical tourism.
Leanne O’Driscoll, who appears in the documentary, went to Turkey to undergo gastrectomy because the procedure in Ireland was too expensive.
“I looked it up in Ireland and I think it was €14,000 at the time,” she told Mr Moncrieff.
“It was a little expensive for me…I had the surgery in Turkey for 2,400 euros.”
She first contacted the service through a woman on WhatsApp, who did not request any medical information other than her name, age and weight.
When O’Driscoll arrived in Turkey with the group, he was immediately taken to hospital where he underwent blood tests and tests on his lungs, heart and kidneys.
“It was a fully operational private hospital,” she said. “It was nice and clean. Everything was working well.”
“vomit blood”
O’Driscoll actually had second thoughts about the surgery after watching a friend undergo surgery, and told the hospital she no longer wanted the surgery, but the hospital sedated her and took her to the surgery regardless.
“[After the procedure]I was very unwell,” she said.
“I was vomiting – to be honest, I was throwing up blood. [my friends] I called the nurse and she said it was normal.
“They did an X-ray and said everything was fine and we could be discharged. … But what was worrying for me was that when the three girls came back from the procedure the day before, they were in their pajamas. It was something that had been included.
“When I came back from surgery, they changed my hospital gown and put me in another surgical gown.”
Stethoscope lying on the map.Image: oguz dikbakan / Alamy Stock Photo
Once home with his partner, Mr O’Driscoll tried to rest and recover, but eventually called his sister and asked her to help him move around.
“[My sister] When she saw me, she started screaming,” she said.
“She ran down and grabbed my partner and he ran upstairs and she started yelling ‘call an ambulance, call an ambulance’.”
At the hospital, O’Driscoll learned he had a serious infection that affected his entire body.
“They said my next of kin had to go to the hospital because I was dying.
“I thought I was dizzy from dehydration, but it turns out I had sepsis.
“Sent Home to Die”
She later learned that Turkish surgeons had “nicked her spleen” during the operation but did not tell her that.
“They didn’t tell me that because they would have to pay extra to have my spleen removed to keep me alive,” she said.
“But since I didn’t pay them any extra money at the time, I didn’t know it was going to happen, so they just kept me from a pleasant death and sent me back home.”
“People didn’t recognize me.”
Mr O’Driscoll said after his near-death experience he would be taking antibiotics for the rest of his life and would need to closely monitor his health.
“It took me over seven months to get back to work,” she said.
“People didn’t appreciate the fact that I’ve been working with them for over 20 years.”
Mr O’Driscoll tried to contact the hospital, but the hospital denied that they had severed his spleen during the operation.
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