A British granny who had gone to Turkey for a belly tuck and bum lift passed away a few days later.
Family members described Carol Keenan, 54, as “one of the loveliest individuals” and the “heart and soul of the celebration.”
She received a Brazilian bum lift, a stomach tuck (also known as an abdominoplasty), and muscle rehabilitation at an Istanbul facility, but she passed away in April of last year.
The support worker and her fiancé, Stevie Anderson, took a plane from Edinburgh, Scotland, to the Turkish city, according to MailOnline.
She paid £7,000 for the two cosmetic operations and was offered a third procedure – a stomach muscle repair to tone her tummy – for free.
The trip, which included a hotel and the operations at the Onkoloji Hastanesi hospital in the eastern Kadıköy district, was a package deal.
Carol’s family booked the surgery through the Clineca health tourism agency – its website says its cosmetic services are ‘focused on beauty, safety and comfort’.
The surgeon who operated on Carol is understood to have hired out an operating theatre in Onkoloji Hastanesi, also known as the Istanbul Oncology Hospital Medical Center.
Carol’s family said before the operations, she underwent a series of checks including blood tests to make sure she was fit for surgery.
After the procedures, her daughter, Leonie Keenan, said Carol ‘seemed to be quite happy and was doing all right’.
‘She spent three days in hospital and then was moved to a hotel for three days to recuperate.’
But only six days after going under the knife three times, Carol, of Glenrothes, Fife, collapsed outside her hotel on April 20 as she was due to have a final check-up.
‘Just as she reached the taxi outside the hotel with her fiancé Stevie, she suddenly collapsed. She was breathing, but unresponsive,’ Leonie said.
She added: ‘Sadly my mum’s heart stopped in the ambulance and she was given CPR by the paramedics, but they could not save her.’
Onkoloji Hastanesi and Clineca have been approached for comment.
Leonie, 32, says she is awaiting the results of an autopsy in Turkey to establish how she died.
Leonie has suggested the operations played a part in Carol’s death, which could be the result of a blood clot or fat embolism ending up in her heart or brain.
Now her loved ones are speaking out to warn people of the risks some cosmetic surgeries carry.
It comes after Shannon Bowe, from Falkirk, Scotland, passed away while having a gastric band fitted in Turkey last month.
‘My mother was a fit and healthy individual. She was a very petite size 10 and she kept in shape by walking everywhere and going swimming,’ Leonie said.
‘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.’
Leonie added: ‘Above everything she was devoted to her grandchildren. She would see them three days a week, take them for tea, pick them up after school and take them on days out.
‘Her death is clearly linked to the surgery. We as a family believe that if she did not have these procedures, she would still be alive today.
‘We have questions about how well she was monitored after the operation. I understand that blood clots can give people a burning sensation.
‘If she had something like that, it should have alerted the people looking after her.’
Fearing hefty medical bills, patients are increasingly seeking medical treatment in foreign countries in what’s often called ‘medical tourism’.
According to Patient Beyond Borders, Turkey is now among the world’s top 10 medical tourism destinations. Factors such as cheaper price tags, visa-free entry and short flight distances play a part in why people make the trips.
The savings are big, the global medical tourism guide says. Compared to the cost of some treatments in the US – often used as a benchmark – treatments cost 50-65% less in Turkey.
More than 640,000 health tourists visited Turkey in 2021, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute
Clineca, based in Istanbul, says it arranges airport transfer, hotel bookings and surgeries ‘in prestigious hospitals with intensive care units and doctors from all specialities to maximise safety’.
‘I think the Turkish authorities make it too easy for people to jump on planes and get these procedures,’ Leonie added.
‘People think they are going out on a medical package holiday to make themselves look better – but they need to realise that it could cost their lives.’