A woman said she was left ‘rotting’ in agony and wanted to die after a botched tummy tuck in Turkey.
Sara Platt, 34, from Bridgend, South Wales, is now suing the surgeon who operated on her and believes she is the first Brit to take a Turkish doctor to court.
The mum-of-four first flew to Turkey in 2021 to undergo gastric band surgery.
But it left her with excess skin, which in turn caused infections and bad smells.
Sara said she decided to return to Turkey in February 2023 to have the skin removed as the cost of the procedure there was £15,000 compared to £33,000 in the UK.
She added that the practice she chose had several five-star reviews and she even flew out to meet the surgeon beforehand.
However, she admits to being ‘naive’ about the potential risks and ‘desperate’ at the time.
Sara told the Mail that following the operation – which included a breast lift and implants – she was left ‘rotting’ in agony in a dingy hotel with ‘brown liquid’ seeping from her body and a chunk of fat left in the middle of her chest.
The pain was so excruciating at one point she told her dad she wanted to die.
Nine days later the same surgeon decided to perform another procedure to ‘fix his mess’, she explained.
This time she was left awake and screaming in pain while the doctor took off a ‘big chunk’ of fat and skin using only local anaesthetic.
At one point, she said, he used a ‘burning tool’ and has previously told ITV she heard a ‘sizzling’ and felt like she was ‘on fire’.
Sara was later given a fit-to-fly certificate and returned to the UK, where where she was admitted to Morriston Hospital in Swansea.
She also spent eight weeks at the Welsh Centre for Burns and Plastic Surgery in Swansea.
So far the mum has received 10 corrective surgeries on the NHS, including a skin graft on her stomach.
She said the whole ordeal has left her with PTSD, including psychosis, and pain in her stomach.
‘If somebody touches my stomach straight away, I can feel pain and that’s going to be with me forever,’ she told the Mail.
Sara hopes her legal fight will see the surgeon’s licence revoked and bring awareness to the risks of cosmetic surgery in Turkey.
She said: ‘I don’t care if I don’t get a penny. It’s the fact that I need justice and I want to stop the surgeon from doing it to anybody else.
‘I’m trying to raise awareness. I’m trying to advocate against the bad surgeons in Turkey.’
Sara, who will need to return to Turkey to be examined by Turkish doctors as part of the case, has set up a GoFundMe page to help with the costs of flights and accommodation.
She said she’s terrified of returning but is determined to get justice.
Despite at least 28 Brits having died from botched cosmetic surgeries in Turkey, Sara believes she is the first to sue a surgeon.
On her GoFundMe page, she wrote: ‘I have taken legal action against the surgeon responsible for my suffering, fighting not for money, but for justice—to have his medical license revoked so he can no longer harm others.
‘The process has been long, expensive, and mentally exhausting, but I am determined to see this through. I am not the first victim, and I won’t be the last unless action is taken.
‘Now, I am being required to return to Turkey for an examination by Turkish doctors as part of the court proceedings.
‘My UK surgeon must also travel to provide evidence. This is a crucial step in holding the responsible parties accountable, but I need your help to make it happen.”
She added: ‘The legal process is designed to be intimidating, exhausting, and financially draining to discourage people like me from fighting back—but I refuse to give up.’
Among the 28 Brits who have died after cosmetic surgery in Turkey is Demi Agoglia, from Salford, Greater Manchester.
The 26-year-old mum had undergone a Brazilian butt-lift operation and passed away in January last year on the same day she was due to fly home.
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