Trans women flown to Turkey for gender reassignment surgery need emergency NHS help after suffering internal injuries on the way home
A trans woman has revealed her horrific ordeal when she suffered internal injuries during her journey home after gender reassignment surgery in Turkey.
Shona traveled from her home in Lancashire to Izmir to complete her transition – which was a success until she was forced to travel home with a piece of surgical equipment still on her.
After the operation, Shona traveled home to the Blackpool area via three airports: Izmir, Istanbul and Manchester.
She says she booked assistance with all three, but there was no one to help her at the airport with her bags or up and down the stairs of the two planes she needed to get home.
It meant carrying her bags through airports while her dilator – a plastic or silicone device used to prevent shrinkage after male-to-female surgery – was inserted.
Shona traveled from her home in Lancashire to Izmir for gender reassignment surgery that would see the trans woman born male gain a vaginal opening
As part of the surgery, Shona had to insert a dilator – a plastic or silicone device used to prevent shrinkage after male-to-female surgery.
Shona, who is married to a woman and has children, used TikTok to describe her ordeal to her 11,000 followers.
She said she flew to Turkey for surgery on February 2, but felt compelled to speak out against rumors that the operation had failed.
Shona said: ‘Many people assume my operation in Izmir went wrong, but it went according to plan.
‘On the way home, however, I had booked assistance through the three different airports, starting in Izmir itself.’
She said she arrived at each airport in succession to find that there was no one there as planned to carry her bags and make it as easy as possible to board and depart in her vulnerable state.
She said she was exhausted when she reached Manchester, telling her followers: ‘There was no help and I had to walk through passport control, lift my bags off the belt and push them to the train station.
‘I then took the train to Preston and had to carry my suitcases up and down the stairs myself. I then got a taxi and was met by my wife at the front door.
‘All the time I was walking I had my dilator inside me, which caused damage to the new left labia. ‘
I saw a doctor today and they referred me to St George’s Hospital in London to try to resolve the problem.
‘There were no problems until I had to walk with this dilator inside me. ‘
I don’t want people to judge me for what happened. Now it’s about healing and getting better.
‘The infection is now almost gone, I have been without oxygen for a while now, although I am finding it difficult to breathe.
“I’m coming and the antibiotics are working. Now I just have to go to St. George’s and have the wound repaired.’
In an earlier video on TikTok, Shona shared how she was rushed to hospital after returning from Turkey when her temperature rose.
She said: “Last night I had to be rushed to the A and E at Blackpool Vic due to the high temperature and the fact I hadn’t had food for a few days.
‘It was determined that my labia had become infected and needed to be debrided. The doctor takes me to clean everything up, but the hole is still open.
‘Otherwise everything is fine and things like that happen. I won’t be the first nor the last that this has happened to.
However, she was not supposed to walk with the device inside her and despite booking medical attention, Shona says she had to carry her luggage herself on the way home, which ended up causing serious internal injuries.
She said she now plans for Shona to return to Turkey today for further surgery to repair the damage done
‘The infection was caused by having a dilator inside me that was causing skin damage.’
After sex reassignment surgery, patients must use a dilator to prevent a process known as ‘stenosis’: the shortening or contraction of the new vaginal cavity.
The London Transgender Clinic – one of Britain’s leading private hospitals – advises patients: ‘The stretching effect of vaginal dilation can prevent wound contraction, in addition to providing optimal elasticity of the vaginal walls to allow penetration.
‘Without adequate and consistent dilation, the skin in the vagina will shrink and contract, which can ultimately lead to a shortening and/or narrowing of the vaginal canal; this is known as stenosis.”
Shona has revealed that she will return to Turkey today for further surgery to repair the damage done.
She said work at an NHS hospital had removed too much healthy skin so surgeons would work in Izmir to repair the damage.
Shona told her followers in an updated TikTok: ‘They took too much healthy skin from my wound so unfortunately I now have to go back to Turkey where they will take me to the cinema again to repair the damage and keep me there for a week keep on bed rest.
‘I will be assisted again at Manchester airport, they have confirmed it and made sure it is on the list when I get there.’
Thanking her followers for their support, she said: ‘You have been an important part of my journey and it was great to have you there.’