A mother-of-one was left fighting for her life after undergoing a botched ‘mummy makeover’ in Turkey when her breasts started oozing with pus.
Danielle Hunt paid £6,795 to have breast implant replacements, a tummy tuck and liposuction at an Istanbul-based clinic in October last year.
The 35-year-old, from Middleton, Manchester, contacted a Turkish surgeon on WhatsApp after being shown his Instagram page by a friend.
She claims a receptionist asked her for photos which she promptly sent over and they agreed to carry out the procedures.
After she arrived at the clinic, she claims they got her blood test results mixed up with another woman called Danielle and they also told her she needed extra surgeries to the ones she had requested.
Once the procedures had been completed, she was left ‘crying’ in pain and her partner had to pick her up from the airport in a wheelchair.
Ms Hunt said it took eight weeks to recover to the point where she could walk again but her ‘wounds would not heal’ and constantly became ‘infected with oozing green pus’.
Eventually she found a private surgeon who would operate on her but had to fork out another £6,500 for the procedure.
Danielle Hunt paid £6,795 to have breast implant replacements, a tummy tuck and liposuction at an Istanbul-based clinic in October last year
The 35-year-old, from Middleton, Manchester, contacted a Turkish surgeon on WhatsApp after being shown his Instagram page by a friend
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT: Once the procedures had been completed, she was left ‘crying’ in pain and her partner had to pick her up from the airport in a wheelchair
‘They asked me to let them know when I’d booked my flights,’ the aesthetics practitioner told the Manchester Evening News.
‘There was no consultation. They didn’t ask me if I took any medication, had any health problems or drank.’
The mother-of-one flew out to the Turkish city and waited for a driver to pick her up from the airport as promised. After multiple phone calls, the driver finally arrived an hour later after accidentally going to the wrong airport.
Once she arrived at her hotel, Ms Hunt was then taken to the clinic for a pre-consultation appointment. There, she claims staff did not use gloves to take her blood and got her results mixed up with another woman called Danielle who had booked the same procedures.
The following day, it was time for Ms Hunt to undergo her three surgeries. Despite only wanting breast implant replacements, she claims the surgeons told her she needed to have a breast uplift surgery to re-shape her breasts into a higher position.
Before going under the knife, Ms Hunt claims she was presented with four 10-page long consultation forms that she needed to sign within five minutes or she would lose her surgery slot.
She said: ‘I signed them without reading them. I panicked.’
The mother asked the medics to let her know when they were about to put her to sleep, which she claims they failed to do.
The next thing she remembers is waking up in extreme agony. ‘I was asking for pain relief before it was due because I was in that much pain,’ she said.
‘They discharged me the next day and I got back to the hotel with only paracetamol as pain relief. I rang the clinic and told them I was in dire pain. I was crying asking them if I could go back, I didn’t mind having to pay.’
Despite a nurse visiting Ms Hunt at her hotel several times to administer pain relief, she was in so much agony she couldn’t even walk three steps in her room.
She said: ‘It took me 30 minutes to walk to the shower. I wasn’t getting any sleep or resting at all.’
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT: Before going under the knife, Ms Hunt claims she was presented with four 10-page long consultation forms that she needed to sign within five minutes or she would lose her surgery slot. ‘I signed them without reading them,’ she added
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT: Ms Hunt said it took eight weeks to recover to the point where she could walk again but her ‘wounds would not heal’ and constantly became infected
Ms Hunt paid to fly back to Manchester a day early where she was met by her partner at the airport who had to put her into a wheelchair.
It took eight long weeks for the mum to be able to walk properly following her tummy tuck and liposuction – but her breast wounds were still causing her severe pain.
In a bid to ease her suffering, she visited Royal Bolton Hospital where she claims a surgeon told her said her bruising was the worst he had seen in his entire career.
Despite visiting a breast clinic three times a week, her wounds would not heal and constantly became infected with oozing green pus.
In a terrifying turn of events, she developed deadly sepsis on New Year’s Eve and had to be rushed for emergency surgery to have her breast implants removed.
‘I contacted three different clinics and all three refused point blank to treat me because of how the original surgery had been done,’ she said.
She was in so much pain she was out of work for three months and struggled to care for her non-verbal autistic daughter.
Ms Hunt added: ‘I’ve got a severely autistic child, she’s seven and non-verbal. I couldn’t be a mum for a few months.
‘That had an effect on her because she likes routine. I found it really hard because of the pain I was in. She’s quite strong, so if she pushed me, it would have been another hospital visit because I was in that much of a weak state. I felt like I was failing as a mother.
‘I was having nightmares and waking up dripping in sweat. I was constantly checking my breasts every two hours to make sure there was no leakage under the dressings.
Liposuction that offers to remove up to 15 litres of fat, Brazilian butt lifts, eye colour-changing laser treatments and hymenoplasties are offered in clinics across Turkey
British surgeons have raised the alarm about the rising cost of fixing botched cosmetic ops performed overseas, with one case costing the NHS an estimated £100,000
‘I couldn’t go swimming because I was constantly anxious thinking people were looking at me. I couldn’t even look at myself in the mirror.’
The ordeal took such an emotional toll on Ms Hunt that she was diagnosed with PTSD three months after her procedures.
She said: ‘You hear of the odd person dying from gastric sleeve surgery but it’s just getting worse. My surgeon said he’s seen more cases to correct. They’re all botched.’
Ms Hunt eventually found a medic who agreed to perform reconstruction surgery privately – forcing her to fork out a further £6,500 for the procedure.
Now rebuilding her life, the mother has issued a stark warning to others considering getting surgery abroad. ‘Going over to Turkey for surgery is not worth risking your own life,’ she said.
‘My little girl was nearly left without a mum. Turkey surgery is cheap but you cannot put a price on your life.’
Tens of thousands of Brits, particularly women in their 20s and 30s, flock to Europe for breast procedures, bum lifts and lip enhancements every year.
Turkey has become one of the most popular destinations, fuelled by celebrities and influencers who’ve made the four-hour trip in pursuit of revamping their bodies.
Clinics also offer luxurious ‘all-inclusive’ packages at five-star hotels, complete with meals and VIP transport. Such deals, on sale for in the region of £2,500, include the treatments themselves.
But despite seeming safe on the surface, Turkey is called the ‘capital of butchery’ by campaigners.
Dozens of ordinary patients have shared their horror stories at the hands of ‘cowboy’ surgeons, including some who needed life-saving treatment as soon as they landed back on UK soil. Correcting such botched ops costs taxpayers millions every year.
At least 24 Brits have also died going under the knife in Turkey since 2019, where standards are notoriously laxer than in the NHS. Surgical aftercare can be non-existent, too, argue victims of the procedures.
All the known British fatalities in Turkey from surgery
At least 24 Brits have died as a result of medical tourism trips to Turkey since January 2019, according to the Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Here, highlights some of the victims.
Leah Cambridge
Leah Cambridge, 29, suffered a blood clot during a £6,500 Brazilian butt lift surgery in Turkey.
Leah Cambridge, 29, died after having the ‘Brazilian butt lift’ procedure in Turkey
The mother-of-three, from Leeds, died just one day after travelling to an Elite Aftercare clinic in Turkey in August 2018.
The trainee beautician, described as being ‘paranoid about her body’, paid in cash for the procedure after being inspired by pictures on Instagram.
The procedure involved having fat extracted from the waist and injected into the buttocks.
But she suffered a fatal complication when fat was accidentally injected into a vein, causing her to have three heart attacks on the operating table.
Ms Cambridge’s partner Scott Franks told Wakefield Coroner’s Court that the surgeon who carried out the procedure told him he had ‘injected the fat too far into the muscle and it entered her veins’.
Mr Franks said when he flew out to Turkey after his partner died, Dr Ali Uckan, the surgeon who treated Leah, had told him: ‘It’s a guessing game, you can’t see where you are going into.’
Ms Cambridge’s father, Craig, took his own life in 2021 with an inquest held in July last year hearing how he was never able to get past the loss of his daughter.
Diarra Akua Eunice Brown
Diarra Brown, 28, died after having liposuction in Turkey
Diarra Akua Eunice Brown died aged 28, two days after getting liposuction at a clinic in the suburb of Bahcelievler in Istanbul, in October 2021.
She reportedly underwent the operation to have fat removed from her hips.
While the procedure initially appeared to be a success, Ms Brown ‘suddenly’ fell ill while having her dressings changed.
She died just hours later.
Social media posts from family and friends described her as a ‘beautiful soul’ and a ‘close friend’.
‘This must be a dream,’ one post said. ‘Still can’t come to terms with this yet.’
‘I miss you angel. I’m devastated you were taken away way before your time,’ said another.
Shannon Bowe
Shannon Bowe, 28 died after undergoing gastric band surgery in Turkey
Shannon Bowe, from Denny, near Falkirk, died while undergoing gastric band surgery in Turkey in April 2023.
The 28-year-old passed away during the procedure which involves placing a band around the stomach.
Where exactly Ms Bowe had the procedure in Turkey and the complication that led to her death have not been revealed.
In the aftermath of her death, Ms Bowe’s boyfriend Ross Stirling wrote on social media: ‘Sleep tight my angel, love you forever and always.’
Gastric band surgery involves a doctor placing a gastric band around the top of the stomach, creating a small pouch.
When the patient eats, this small pouch fills up more quickly than their stomach normally would, making them feel fuller with less food.
By encouraging them to eat less, the procedure can help patients lose weight.
Melissa Kerr
Melissa Kerr, 31, of Gorleston, Norfolk, died after having a BBL in Turkey
Melissa Kerr, 31, died while undergoing a Brazilian butt lift in Turkey in 2019, just before her wedding.
Ms Kerr traveled to Istanbul’s Medicana Haznedar Hospital in November that year for gluteal augmentation, which can cost up to £3,150.
The psychological wellbeing practitioner, from Gorleston, Norfolk, died from a blocked artery in her lung as a result of undergoing the surgery.
Her twin sister Natasha who set up a Justgiving.com page after her death described her a ‘a pure and beautiful soul inside and out’.
She said: ‘Words cannot describe the pain and heartbreak we are going through, life without her will never be the same again.
‘We miss her deeply and nothing will fill the emptiness we are left with.’
Melissa’s partner Skye Birch said: ‘I will continue to love you with all my heart until my last breath.’
Ms Kerr also worked as a volunteer helping domestic violence victims and supporting people through bereavement.
Abimbola Ajoke Bamgbose
Abimbola Ajoke Bamgbose, 38, died after liposuction in Turkey
Abimbola Ajoke Bamgbose, a 38-year-old social worker, from Dartford, Kent, died in August 2020 after undergoing liposuction surgery in Turkey.
The mother-of-three bought an overseas package deal with Mono Cosmetic Surgery after becoming fed up with people asking her if she was pregnant, according to her husband.
A post-mortem examination found that Mrs Bamgbose suffered perforations to her bowel during the surgery, with the cause of death given as peritonitis with multiple organ failure.
Peritonitis is an infection of the peritoneum, the inner lining of the tummy which covers vital internal organs like the kidneys, liver and bowel.
Her husband Moyosore Olowo told an inquest he was unaware his wife had travelled abroad for cosmetic surgery, instead believing she had simply gone on a holiday with her friends.
It was not until Mrs Bamgbose called her husband to say she was suffering from stomach pains following the procedure that he found out what had happened.
Mr Olowo said his wife had visited a private medical practice in the UK for surgery but added that the cost had been too high for her to have the treatment in Britain.
Carol Keenan
Carol Keenan, 54, died after having a BBL and tummy tuck in Turkey
Carol Keenan, 54, died six days after undergoing a combined Brazilian butt lift and tummy tuck in Turkey.
The grandmother, of Glenrothes, Fife, paid £7,000 for the procedures at a private hospital in Istanbul in 2022 after becoming anxious about the way her body looked.
Ms Keenan also accepted the offer of free abdominal muscle repair surgery shortly before she was taken into the operating theatre.
But she died before she was due to have a final check-up and fly home.
Speaking to in April, her family said they are still waiting for the results of her autopsy 11 months on from her death.
Her daughter Leonie Keenan, 32, said: ‘My mother was a fit and healthy individual. She was a very petite size ten and she kept in shape by walking everywhere and going swimming.
‘She was a very active grandmother who loved bouncing on the trampoline with the kids – but she was not happy with her body even though everyone told her she looked great.
‘She set her heart on having surgery after seeing stories about other people and celebrities having procedures. I don’t know if it was like a mid-life crisis.’