A personal trainer says she regrets not practicing what she preaches and going to Turkey for liposuction that nearly cost her life.
Emma Donohoe, 41, regularly shares inspiring stories on social media about her clients’ successful weight loss results through diet and exercise.
Struggling with her own body image, she decided to fly to Turkey for £2,800 liposuction on two areas of her stomach after finding a clinic via social media.
But the mother-of-three, who lives in Liverpool, said she felt like she was ‘dying’ after waking up from the two-hour operation in April.
When Mrs Donohoe returned home to the UK she noticed that her abdomen had swollen considerably.
Emma Donohoe, 41, regularly shares inspiring stories of her clients’ weight loss success through diet and exercise on social media
However, when she herself was struggling with body image issues, she decided to fly to Turkey for a £2,800 liposuction on two parts of her stomach, after finding a clinic on social media
However, instead of a tighter stomach, the personal trainer was left ‘black and blue’ after the surgery and later developed sepsis, which she says nearly cost her life.
She rushed to the emergency room after her masseur noticed fluid buildup on her abdomen during a massage.
NHS doctors then told her she had sepsis and needed surgery to drain the build-up of ‘infected fluid’ in her body.
Mrs Donohoe now wants to warn others about the dangers of having surgery abroad.
She is part of a growing trend of Britons who have ‘failed’ after cosmetic or weight loss surgery in medical tourism centres such as Turkey.
The latest data shows that 324 Britons have required medical treatment or corrective surgery since 2018 after undergoing surgery abroad, at an estimated cost to the NHS of £4.8 million.
Speaking after her ordeal, Mrs Donohoe said: “I feel lucky to be alive. I can’t thank the hospital enough for saving my life. I could have left my children without a mother, it’s a horrible thought.
“I would tell other people to think long and hard about having surgery abroad. Can you get rid of your problem with diet and exercise? Do your research and don’t go into it too lightly.”
She said she was inspired by liposuction, a procedure in which doctors suction fat from specific areas of the body, after she was unable to remove excess fat from her stomach.
“I had some stubborn fat patches on my stomach that I just couldn’t get rid of. I didn’t want anything big like a mummy makeover, just two patches of liposuction,” she said.
‘I found the clinic on social media. I did some research and read all the reviews that looked great. We started communicating back and forth and I decided to book it for April.
‘I didn’t realise it was a big operation or how much pain I would be in. I thought I would walk away with a flat stomach. They told me I would also need (liposuction on) my love handles and it would cost me an extra £700.’
Like many other Britons who have had surgery abroad, she said she wanted to consider the procedure and its risks before going under the knife.
Not only did she experience complications from the procedure, she was also left with an unsatisfactory ‘lump’ on her abdomen
Now Mrs Donohoe wants to warn others about the dangers of having surgery abroad
“I’ve never had a consultation before and there was never really any talk about the pros and cons and what could go wrong,” she says.
Mrs Donohoe said she woke up after the operation feeling ‘black and blue’.
“When I woke up, I felt like I was dying. My body was convulsing. I felt like I was being stabbed in the stomach over and over again,” she said.
‘They gave me paracetamol and ibuprofen, even though I had just had major surgery. They gave me some stronger painkillers, but didn’t tell me what they were.’
“They didn’t give me any proof of fitness to fly or any emergency numbers. They just wanted to get rid of me as quickly as possible.”
Her ordeal wasn’t over yet, however. When Mrs Donohoe got home, she noticed her abdomen was swollen. On the advice of a masseur, she went straight to the emergency room, who noticed fluid under the skin of her abdomen.
Doctors told her she had sepsis and would have to go under the knife again to remove a liter of infected fluid from her body.
She said: ‘They said fortunately my organs were not perforated, but I had three large amounts of infected fluid in my stomach and they needed to remove it as soon as possible.
“It took eight days for my drains to completely clear. I’m still in a lot of pain. I thought I could wear a belly top and be comfortable in a bikini, but I have a bulge on my stomach.
‘It’s nothing like what I wanted. It’s botched. I can’t feel my ribs – they’re completely numb. I really regret having this surgery – I should have had it done in the UK where there’s good aftercare.’
Data gathered from an audit of British cosmetic surgeons shows that the number of Britons requiring extended care in the UK as a result of surgery abroad has risen by 94 per cent in just three years. The majority, 80 per cent, have undergone operations in Turkey.
Britons who go abroad for cheap surgery are returning home with life-threatening infections, implants that burst through the skin and blood clots.
Some people even come back with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics, doctors warn.
Standards for techniques such as liposuction differ significantly between the UK and Turkey.
Liposuction, which can remove up to 15 litres of fat, BBLs, laser treatments to change eye colour and hymenoplasties are all offered at clinics across Turkey
The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons analysed 324 cases of Britons who required medical treatment or corrective surgery after undergoing surgery abroad since 2018
In Britain, surgeons typically remove only three litres of fat at a time and refuse to perform liposuction on obese patients.
While some surgeons in Turkey are performing extreme or mega liposuctions, removing up to 15 litres of fat, they are performing the operation on patients that British doctors would consider unsuitable.
It is also much cheaper, with some Turkish providers offering liposuction for as little as £1,600, almost three times less than
While cases like Mrs Donohoe’s are horrific, other Britons have fared even worse after going under the knife abroad.
At least 25 Britons have died as a result of medical tourism trips to Turkey since January 2019, according to the government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Six of those deaths occurred after 2023.
Surgery safety campaigners are warning Britons not to have cosmetic surgery abroad, saying having to pay cash is a “big warning sign” that the healthcare provider may be underperforming.
Ms Donohoe’s story comes after doctors’ union the British Medical Association reported that more Britons are dying or needing emergency care in the UK after flying abroad for low-cost obesity surgery.
The crisis is causing delays in routine care such as hip and knee replacements in the UK as these health tourists increasingly take up NHS beds, the union’s annual meeting revealed.