A Turkish weight loss surgeon who carried out an operation on a south London woman who died days later has insisted he did nothing wrong.
Morgan Ribeiro, 20, fell ill on the plane as she flew home from the gastric sleeve surgery in Istanbul on January 5 and later died on January 13.
Her mother, Erin Gibson, 44, said she was informed her small intestine had been accidentally cut during the procedure and hit out at the “botched” surgery.
Speaking to the Mirror, surgeon Serkan Bayil insisted that Ms Ribeiro’s death was not caused by the surgery and that she died because of an embolism on the plane.
He insisted: “I am sad, so, so sad, she was so young I wish that this had never happened, it is the first time in my career.
“Two others from England that had the same surgery are very happy with it. But in surgery there are always complications, always risk. I would say it is safe to come to Turkey, this is just a tragic incident.”
Gastric sleeve surgery involves removing part of the stomach to leave behind a sleeve, therefore reducing the size of the stomach and limiting hunger.
However, her mother, who wants a medical tourism ban, has rejected the surgeon’s claims, alleging mistakes were made.
Responding to the doctor’s claim that Morgan suffered an embolism, she told the paper: “That is preposterous … I was told that she was showing signs of fever immediately because her body was already going into septic shock.
“She had broken-down food leaking into her bloodstream. She was already on the way down when she was still in that hospital.”
After Ms Ribeiro took ill on the plane home, the flight was diverted to Belgrade, Serbia, so she could receive emergency medical care.
A post-mortem will be performed in the UK, but mother Erin said doctors in Belgrade had told her that Morgan’s small intestine was damaged, which can have fatal consequences. She later died of a heart attack.
Relatives earlier paid a moving tribute to Morgan, who paid around £2,500 for the operation, which costs up to £10,000 in the UK.
"Growing up she was bullied a lot, she’s always battled with her weight and been a bigger girl and she had a really rough time with it,” her mother said. “I told her she was beautiful inside and out, she really was a beautiful girl.”
She added: "She was loving, she was an artist, a drama queen, just like me, and she was beautiful inside and out. She was outgoing, silly, friendly and loving. She loved singing and caring for others - and she worked closely with children.”
Her devastated father, Ricardo Ribeiro, earlier said she had sent him a WhatsApp voice note, saying she was "starting the healing process" after completing the surgery days before she died.
"She contacted me while she was out there, after she had the operation, said it had gone OK and that she was starting the healing process, but that she was sore," he told the Mirror.
Mr Ribeiro said he was unable to listen to the voice note again after it became the last time he would hear his daughter speak.
"We want to make sure something like this doesn’t ever happen again," he said.
"That no more children are taken away from their families because of these ridiculous surgeries, where they do not operate properly and do not follow proper procedures."
Her boyfriend, James Brewster, who joined Morgan on the flight, said that medics and translators failed to highlight any risks linked to the operation.
Paying tribute on a GoFundMe page set up after her death, he said: "My beautiful princess has passed away. She had been struggling with her weight all her life. She wanted to fit in. But in actual fact she was the most beautiful woman and she was my other half."
Earlier this month, a British mother-of-three who had a Brazilian bum-lift operation in Turkey tragically also died just days later.
Demi Agoglia, 26, from Salford, Greater Manchester, is thought to have suffered heart attacks caused by a fat embolism after the surgery.
Travelling to Turkey for operations is popular because it is significantly cheaper than the same surgeries privately in the UK.
However, last year the Foreign Office issued a warning to Brits travelling to the country for medical treatments in July, after learning of 25 people who have died there since January 2019.
