Daniella Westbrook has undergone brutal reconstruction surgery in Turkey in a desperate attempt to repair her collapsing face.
The former EastEnders actress, 49, admitted she feared she would die while under the knife but insisted she needed the surgery to ‘survive’ after her septum collapsed from excessive drug use in 2002 and she developed osteoporosis has weakened her bones.
Danniella had a thread lift, liposuction in her cheeks and lips, and fat grafting etched on her chin and jawline.
In gruesome surgery photos, Danniella lies bloodied and bruised in her hospital bed and said when she first woke up she looked “like she’d done 10 rounds with Tyson Fury.”
Danniella said she had wanted the reconstruction done for seven years but couldn’t find a surgeon to operate because her septum had completely collapsed.
Under the knife: Daniella Westbrook underwent brutal reconstruction surgery in Turkey in a desperate attempt to fix her collapsing face
Important: The former EastEnders actress, 49, admitted she feared she would die while under the knife but insisted she needed the surgery to ‘survive’
Horrific: Danniella had a thread lift, liposuction in her cheeks and lips, and fat grafting etched on her chin and jawline
She said The sun: ‘I was very scared. My mother and my son Kai were constantly on the phone – I made a will before I left and my son is the executor of it.
‘But luckily I’m still here and I came through the other side. Someone is looking over me. I looked like I went 10 rounds with Tyson Fury.
“But the swelling actually subsided very quickly. I am already happy with the results.’
Danniella says she paid for the surgery all by herself, despite being offered freebies from clinics around the world, after a health scare left her in intensive care last year because she struggled to breathe through her nose.
Now in the recovery phase, Danniella just has to stick to ibuprofen and acetaminophen, as any stronger painkiller could be a trigger for her past cocaine addiction.
Danniella previously revealed she needed five surgeries to correct her ‘collapsing’ face due to a previous cocaine addiction and osteoporosis, and planned to have it done on the NHS.
She previously told The Sun: ‘I’ve been trying to get someone to do it for the past seven years but they said no in case it failed and they got cut.
‘Plastic surgeons wanted £500,000 to change my face, so I thought I’d never get it done. It was only because I went to intensive care before Christmas.
Actress: Danniella first appeared in EastEnders in 1990 at the age of 16, but her septum collapsed from excessive drug use in 2002 (pictured left 2009, right in 2018)
Brave: In gruesome surgery photos, Danniella said when she first woke up she looked ‘like she’d done 10 rounds with Tyson Fury’
Markings: The surgeon drew on Danniella’s face as she prepared to go under the knife
Pout: They then posed together for a photo
“I couldn’t breathe because I had a cold. There was a build up of fluid and after falling asleep I couldn’t wake up properly and ended up in ICU.
“I was sent to Aintree Hospital in Liverpool and that’s only because I was in front of the right doctors, otherwise I would be waiting to find someone. “They’re doing it for me now under the NHS.”
Danniella previously underwent a rib insertion procedure in 2018 after osteoporosis rotted away her cheekbones and gums and, having received lip filler and Botox for the past year, in addition to surgery on her face, she hopes to get back to her best.
In April, Danniella stepped out with a bandage over her nose after another procedure.
Difficult: The actress’ struggle with drugs has been widely publicized, her nose reconstructed after her septum collapsed from excessive cocaine use (left in 2009 and right this year)
The actress’s struggles with drugs have been widely publicized and her nose was famously reconstructed after her septum collapsed from excessive cocaine use in 2002.
At the height of her use, she reportedly used up to five grams of cocaine a day, wasting nearly £250,000 on the drug.
The star has since embarked on multiple rehab to battle her demons – revealing she was finally clean in June 2021, after attending a clinic in Mijas, Spain.
Danniella first appeared in EastEnders in 1990 at the age of 16 and starred in the soap for three years.
She returned in 1996, but her time was cut short when her off-screen behavior got her fired.
She returned shortly after, but was suspended again in 2000 after further disruptive behaviour, admitting to blowing £100,000 worth of cocaine at the time.
The role was recast between 2002 and 2005 and played by Kim Medcalf, but Danniella returned to the role again in 2009 to 2010.
She was back again in 2016 for the storyline surrounding the on-screen death of mother Peggy Mitchell, which is her last appearance to date.