A mum and daughter warned This Morning viewers against cheap cosmetic procedures abroad, after describing their own nip-and-tuck hell in Turkey.
Jacqui Wicks, 60, and daughter Tracy Visagie, 36, both required extensive treatment on the NHS following operations in Izmir in April.
Devastated Jacqui needed emergency surgery after a tummy tuck, while Tracey said her surgeon did not complete her procedures and left her with dead skin on one breast.
Appearing in the ITV studio to tell Josie Gibson and Craig Doyle of their ordeal, the mum and daughter duo said they were lured abroad because the procedures were half the price.
Jacqui, from Ramsgate, Kent, and Tracy booked packages through a third-party agency and were heartened by the positive reviews for the surgeon.
Jacqui was quoted £10,000 for a tummy tuck in the UK – but just £4,000 in Turkey.
Tracy meanwhile was told a tummy tuck and breast uplift would set her back £13,000 here, but for just £5,000 she was told she could have both treatments as well as a range of liposuction procedures.
However, they told Craig and Josie they only met their surgeon hours before surgery and felt that looking back they were “none the wiser”.
Josie asked the pair whether there was a moment during the procedure where they suspected something was amiss.
Tracey said: “When I was being wheeled down for my operation, they came to get me and they were injecting me in the hallway with stuff to put you out. Before I’d even got into the elevator.
“And as I was going into the operating room, they were wheeling you out. So it was one in, one out.”
She continued: “He neglected to do certain surgeries so I didn’t get what I paid for. I also had necrosis to one of my nipples.
“That’s now healed, but the skin died. A surgeon here said he just left the nipple off for too long.”
Meanwhile, Tracey’s mum Jacqui said her situation was far worse due to an existing diagonal gallbladder scar.
She said: “I didn’t know until I came back, but I was told here that the surgeon should never have agreed to operate, because the blood flow was compromised, so the flesh died.”
After nine days the women returned to the UK in pain and were forced to undergo corrective procedures, with the NHS now struggling to cope with the fallout of returning Brits in need of treatment.
Craig asked: “What would you say to anybody considering cosmetic surgery abroad now?”
Tracey replied: “Don’t do it. I’d have waited. If I’d have known now. I would have waited and saved up.”
This Morning airs weekdays at 10am on ITV and ITV Hub.
