AN IRISH woman has told of the horror experience she endured after a botched weight loss surgery in Turkey, declaring: I was sent home to die.
Leanne O'Driscoll, 43, from Clare has urged others not to go abroad for gastric surgery after she nearly lost her life as a result.
The mum-of-three weighted 16st 10lbs when she started looking into having gastric sleeve procedure.
In Ireland, the surgery would have cost her €14,000, while the same procedure was priced at just €2,400 in Turkey.
She and three friends decided to travel to Turkey for the procedure.
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Speaking to Newstalk, she explained how she regretted having the surgery done, as a result of the complications that followed.
She made contact with the clinic through a woman on WhatsApp who did not ask for any information regarding her medical history, only her name, age, and weight.
When she arrived in Turkey, they were dropped at the hospital where they received a blood test, and tests were carried out on their lungs, hearts, and kidneys.
Despite noting it was "lovely and clean" and "everything was going well", things took a drastic turn.
Despite telling the hospital she was having second thoughts about the surgery and no longer wanted to go through with it, they sedated her and brought her to the surgery anyway.
She explained that she was "very sick" afterwards.
She continued: “I was vomiting blood. When [my friends] called the nurse, the nurse said that can be normal.
“They did an x-ray and said everything was okay and I could leave... but what was alarming for me was when the three girls came back from their procedures the day before, they were put into their PJs.
“When I came back from my procedure, they changed my hospital gown and put me into another surgical gown.”
When she returned home she collapsed twice and ultimately her sister and partner brought her to University Hospital Limerick where it was confirmed that she had a serious infection.
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Leanne continued: “They told me my next of kin had to get to the hospital because I was dying.
“I just thought I was dizzy from dehydration – I actually had sepsis."
SPLEEN NICKED
It turned out that the surgeons in Turkey had "nicked her spleen" during the procedure but neglected to tell her that.
She said this was down to the fact that she would have had to pay extra for them to remove her spleen to keep her alive.
The mum explained: “They didn't tell me that because I'd have to pay extra for them to remove my spleen to keep me alive.
“But because I didn’t pay the extra money to them at the time, because I didn’t know it was going to happen, they just sent me home off my merry way to die.”
In a tragic turn of events, it appears that Leanne will unfortunately be on antibiotics for the rest of her life, and has to keep a very good eye on her health.
After attempting to contact the hospital, the surgeons denied cutting her spleen.
She got her spleen removed at University Hospital in Limerick and received 11 pints of blood.
Leanne's story features in a new documentary airing tonight.
To Die For: Cosmetic Surgery in Turkey is on Virgin Media One at 10pm, and explores the risks associated with travelling abroad for surgery.