Ben Thompson
A mum has accused a Turkish clinic of charging her £8,000 in hospital fees after they botched her 'mummy makeover' - then allegedly threatened to 'hold her hostage' if she didn't pay.
Holly Guest visited Turkey in early November to get a tummy tuck, breast implants and some liposuction - a collection of procedures commonly referred to as a 'mummy makeover'.
Having had three kids, the 31-year-old was looking for ways to achieve her 'dream body' after undergoing a successful gastric sleeve operation in January.
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The gastric sleeve had seen her lose six stone in six months, however, Holly was still not happy with how she looked.
She said: "After I lost a lot of weight, I felt insecure, like most women do, and despite my husband telling me I didn't need it, I still felt like I did."
After doing some research the mum, from Grimsby, Lincolnshire, settled upon a Turkish clinic after reading its rave reviews.
Holly paid £7,900 for the 'mummy makeover' and headed over.
However, things took a turn for the worse once she awoke from surgery.
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The business owner claims she collapsed a number of times and required four blood transfusions.
Holly recalled: "When I woke from surgery, and they had taken my catheter out, I got up to go to the toilet and collapsed. This happened a further eight times. I was having mini fits.
"They said my blood count was low and I needed a blood transfusion. I had four or five blood transfusions, which didn't make sense because I didn't lose much blood.
"I was also taken for an ultrasound scan but they blamed it on my liver and gallbladder but I don't have any issues with my liver."
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As the mother feared she'd never see her three kids again, she was hit with another issue - a further £8,000 bill for the care she received as a result of medical complications.
Holly claims that when she refused to pay, the clinic staff allegedly threatened to cancel her flight home.
She said: "I returned home a day early due to the clinic threatening to keep us in the country if I didn't pay them more money.
"We were in a foreign country sat there thinking if we get to tomorrow and someone's at the airport waiting for us, we're screwed.
"It was a case of literally packing everything in a bag and leaving there and then. We ended up missing that flight and having to rebook another flight for three hours time.
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"I think it was disgusting they threatened something like that. We were almost held hostage. We have kids at home. It was bad enough they had been through thinking their mum wasn't coming home.
"We were fortunate enough to be able to book another flight but some people wouldn't have been able to."
Holly is now forced to undergo further operations to remove three haematomas found in her stomach by British doctors.
Haematomas are pools of clotted blood that form in organs, tissue or body space. They're usually caused by a broken blood vessel which was either damaged in an injury or during surgery.
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The surgery complications continue to affect Holly's day-to-day life.
She said: "I can't even stand up straight even four weeks later. I get all this pain on one side of my stomach. The haematomas should've been drained in Turkey but now it's very hard and set.
"Because of the size of one of the haematomas, I'm at risk of getting sepsis. It's a month later, and it hasn't shrunk. I'm going to have to pay for another surgery to remove it.
"I'm still really swollen. I regret this. I barely leave the house, I still feel so poorly. Just think twice before getting this surgery. Your life isn't worth going abroad and saving a bit of money."