Mother, 23, was left fighting for her life in a coma after ‘nightmare’ £1,500 Turkey weight reduction op

At least 25 Brits have died because of this of medical tourism trips to Turkey since January 2019, in keeping with the Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Here, MailOnline highlights a few of the victims.

Leah Cambridge

Leah Cambridge, 29, suffered a blood clot during a £6,500 Brazilian butt lift surgery in Turkey.

The mother-of-three, from Leeds, died just in the future after travelling to an Elite Aftercare clinic in Turkey in August 2018.

The trainee beautician, described as being ‘paranoid about her body’, paid in money 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 by accident injected right 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 may’t see where you might be going into.’

Ms Cambridge father, Craig, took his own life in 2021 with an inquest held in July last 12 months hearing how he was never in a position to get past the lack of his daughter.

Diarra God Eunice Brown

Diarra Akua Eunice Brown, died aged 28, two days after getting liposuction at a clinic within the suburb of Bahcelievler in Istanbul, in October 2021.

She reportedly underwent the operation to have fat faraway from her hips.

While the procedure initially gave the impression to be a hit, Ms Brown ‘suddenly’ fell unwell while having her dressings modified.

She died just hours later.

Social media posts from family and friends described her as a ‘beautiful soul’ and a ‘close friend’.

‘This should be a dream,’ one post said. ‘Still cannot come to terms with this yet.’

‘I miss you angel. I’m devastated you were taken away way before your time,’ said one other.

Shannon Bowe

Shannon Bowe, from Denny, near Falkirk, died while undergoing gastric band surgery in Turkey in April 2023.

The 28-year-old passed away throughout the procedure which involves placing a band across the stomach.

Where exactly Ms Bowe had the procedure in Turkey and the complication that led to her death haven’t been revealed.

In the aftermath of her death, Ms Bowe’s boyfriend Ross Stirling wrote on social media: ‘Sleep tight my angel, love you ceaselessly and all the time.’

Gastric band surgery involves a health care provider placing a gastric band across the top of the stomach, making 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 may also help patients reduce weight.

Melissa Kerr

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 12 months for gluteal augmentation, which may cost as much as £3,150.

The psychological wellbeing practitioner, from Gorleston, Norfolk, died from a blocked artery in her lung because of this of undergoing the surgery.

Her twin sister Natasha who arrange a justgiving.com page after her death described her a ‘a pure and exquisite soul in and out’.

She said: ‘Words cannot describe the pain and heartbreak we’re going through, life without her won’t ever be the identical again.

‘We miss her deeply and nothing will fill the emptiness we’re left with.’

Melissa’s partner Skye Birch said: ‘I’ll proceed to like 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, a 38-year-old social employee, from Dartford, Kent, died in August 2020 after undergoing liposuction surgery in Turkey.

The mother-of-three bought an overseas package cope with Mono Cosmetic Surgery after becoming fed-up with people asking her if she was pregnant, in keeping with her husband.

A post-mortem examination found that Mrs Bamgbose suffered perforations to her bowel throughout the surgery, with the explanation for death given as peritonitis with multiple organ failure.

Peritonitis is an infection of the peritoneum, the inner lining of the stomach which covers vital internal organs just like the kidneys, liver and bowel.

Her husband Moyosore Olowo told an inquest he was unaware his wife had traveled abroad for cosmetic surgery, as a substitute believing she had simply gone on a vacation along with her friends.

It was not until Mrs Bamgbose called her husband to say she was affected by stomach pains following the procedure that he discovered what had happened.

Mr Olowo said his wife had visited a non-public medical practice within the UK for surgery but added that the fee had been too high for her to have the treatment in Britain.

Carol Keenan

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 in regards to 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 as a result of have a final check up and fly home.

Speaking to MailOnline in April, her family said they’re still waiting for the outcomes 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 really petite size 10 and she or he kept in shape by walking in every single place and going swimming.

‘She was a really lively grandmother who loved bouncing on the trampoline with the kids-but she was not completely happy along with her body although everyone told her she looked great.

‘She set her heart on having surgery after seeing stories about other people and celebrities having procedures. I do not know if it was like a mid-life crisis.’