I woke up after Turkish weight loss surgery next to a bag with my stomach in it: Mother, 24, claims she had to bin her own ‘mouldy’ insides after horror £3,000 op that left her fearing she would die
- Mother-of-two’s £3,000 surgery helped her lose 13.5 stone — half her weight
- However, her stomach was stitched too tightly causing severe complications
A mother-of-two has urged others against traveling abroad for cheap weight loss surgery after waking up to find her stomach in a bag next to her.
Rosie Ritchie, from Bellshill, Scotland, had struggled with her weight her whole life.
The 24-year-old’s binge eating habit saw her balloon to 26 stone (165kg), leading her GP to warn her she wouldn’t live to see 30 if she didn’t take action to slim down.
After researching clinics online, she decided to jet off to Turkey for a £3,000 procedure to slice off a portion of her stomach to contain her appetite.
However, Ms Ritchie’s dream of a quick fix descended into a nightmare.
She claimed the hospital had blood spattered walls, medics restrained her wrists and ankles during the operation and that she woke up with a portion of her stomach in a plastic bag next to her bed — in case it needed to be ‘put back in’.
Surgeons had also stitched her stomach up too tightly, making it hard for her to keep food down and suffering from severe bouts of vomiting — forcing medics in the UK to rectify her botched operation.
She is now warning others off going abroad for cut-price procedures — arguing it isn’t worth the risk, despite her since shedding half her body weight.
Rosie Ritchie, 24, was 26 stone before her gastric sleeve surgery, but the procedure left her with serious health problems
The mother-of-two urges people to not go abroad for their gastric sleeve surgery and says it is not worth the risk
After struggling with her weight all her life, Ms Ritchie felt she had no other option but to go under the knife.
Weight-loss surgery is available on the NHS but only to those who have a BMI of more than 40, or a BMI above 35 and a weight-related health problem that would improve from shedding fat. Patients must also have tried all other weight loss methods, such as dieting and exercise, and agree to post-op lifestyle changes.
Ms Ritchie decided to go abroad for her surgery. It is unclear why she didn’t qualify for the procedure on the health service.
She said: ‘I looked online and did research on a lot of different companies, and the different kinds of weight loss surgeries available.
‘I decided to get a gastric sleeve, where they cut out most of your stomach to reduce the size, as I needed something to stop me from binge eating.’
What is gastric sleeve surgery?
Gastric sleeve surgery is a type of weight loss surgery.
It is offered on the NHS, but only to those who are obese and who have tried all other weight loss methods.
The surgery involves removing a large part of the stomach, so it is much smaller than it was before.
Having a smaller stomach means you will not be able to eat as much as before the surgery and you will feel full sooner.
Before getting any weight loss surgery, patients are referred to a specialist clinic for an assessment to check if the operation is suitable.
This can involve checking:
- Physical health – using blood tests, X-rays and scans
- Diet and eating patterns
- Mental health – such as asking about your expectations of surgery, and whether you have any mental health conditions; this is to assess if you’ll be able to cope with the long-term lifestyle changes needed after weight loss surgery
Some people are advised to eat a calorie-controlled diet in the weeks before the surgery to help reduce the size of the liver. This makes the surgery easier and safer.
Source: NHS
Also known as a sleeve gastrectomy, the procedure involves stapling off a large portion of the stomach and removing the excess — effectively turning the organ from a pouch into a sleeve.
While the stomach is still able to absorb nutrients from food, it is left much smaller. As a result, patients can’t eat as much as they previously could and feel full sooner.
Those who undergo the operation can lose up to 70 per cent of their excess weight.
Ms Ritchie booked the procedure for £3,000 at a clinic in Turkey via MedAway — a company that provided cosmetic surgery packages, including ‘VIP transfers’ and ‘five star hotels’.
Ms Ritchie paid a £300 deposit to secure her date for surgery in July.
Staff at MedAway gathered her health information over WhatsApp, including her medical history, weight and allergies — including to antibiotic penicillin.
She then flew to Turkey for the operation.
Upon arriving at the hospital, Ms Ritchie said: ‘I looked in one of the rooms downstairs and there was a huge jar filled with the fat they remove from liposuctions.
‘The room was covered with blood, all over the walls and the floor. It looked like a massacre.
‘That’s when I fully started to panic. I wanted to go home.’
She was taken for surgery but Ms Ritchie claimed she was left fearing for her life after she was strapped to the operating table and the medics failed to communicate with her.
Ms Ritchie said: ‘They put me in the theatre, and the surgical team were speaking Turkish, so I couldn’t understand a word of it. They didn’t say anything to me.
‘They asked me to lie down, and they strapped my ankles and wrists down to the bed while one of the women just stroked my face.
‘I was asking for someone to please tell me what was happening — but they couldn’t understand me, and I couldn’t understand them. I thought I was going to die.’
After waking up, she saw a bag next to her hospital bed which ‘looked like it was filled with chicken breast on top of mince’.
Ms Ritchie said: ‘They said it was my stomach, and they had to keep it for 72 hours in case something went wrong, and they had to put it back in.
‘It wasn’t refrigerated — it was in a bag, in a roasting hot room. The thing was growing mould by day three. I would’ve died of sepsis if they’d tried to put that thing back in my body.’
When Ms Ritchie woke up from her £3,000 gastric sleeve surgery in Turkey her stomach was left in a bag next to her bed
The surgery left her with major health issues because her stomach had been stitched too tightly, leading to difficulties keeping food down and severe bouts of vomiting
Ms Ritchie has now lost 13.5 stone (pictured before and after surgery) but is urging people in the UK to remain at home for medical procedures
Ms Ritchie said she was forced to move her stomach to the corner of the room so she didn’t have to look at it and then later put it in the bin.
She also claimed that doctors demanded £2,000 for rectifying a hernia in her stomach that they spotted during the procedure. These occur when tissue or an organ pushes through a weakness in the muscle.
However, medics eventually agreed to treat the hernia at no extra cost.
She also claimed that medics didn’t offer her pain relief post-surgery or antibiotics — despite alternatives being available for those who have penicillin allergies.
After three days in hospital and four in a hotel, Ms Ritchie flew back to the UK to rest and recover.
However, she began to suffer severe complications six weeks after her surgery.
After three A&E visits, doctors found that Ms Ritchie’s stomach had been stitched too tightly, leading to difficulties keeping food down and severe bouts of vomiting.
Now, months after the surgery, she is still dealing with complications, including recurring stomach pain, and ulceration in her stomach and oesophagus.
Doctors in the UK have been working over the past few months to expand her stomach entrance.
However, Ms Ritchie may need a further gastric bypass to fix the complications from surgery abroad.
She has now lost 13.5 stone (86kg) but is urging people not to go abroad for medical treatments – even if providers look reputable online.
Ms Ritchie said: ‘I asked for all of their certificates and saw a lot of good reviews. I did really look into them.’
She added: ‘Don’t go abroad to get this done – if there is anything else that you can do instead of this, then do that.
‘If you have to have the surgery done, please do it in the UK.’
MailOnline has contacted MedAway for a comment.
Brits who have died after going under the knife in Turkey
At least 25 Brits have died as a result of medical tourism trips to Turkey since January 2019, according to the Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.
Here, MailOnline highlights some of the victims.
Leah Cambridge
Leah Cambridge, 29, suffered a blood clot during a £6,500 Brazilian butt lift surgery in Turkey.
Leah Cambridge, 29, died after having the ‘Brazilian butt lift’ procedure in Turkey
The mother-of-three, from Leeds, died just one day after travelling to an Elite Aftercare clinic in Turkey in August 2018.
The trainee beautician, described as being ‘paranoid about her body’, paid in cash for the procedure after being inspired by pictures on Instagram.
The procedure involved having fat extracted from the waist and injected into the buttocks.
But she suffered a fatal complication when fat was accidentally injected into a vein causing her to have three heart attacks on the operating table.
Ms Cambridge’s partner Scott Franks told Wakefield Coroner’s Court that the surgeon who carried out the procedure told him he had ‘injected the fat too far into the muscle and it entered her veins’.
Mr Franks said when he flew out to Turkey after his partner died, Dr Ali Uckan, the surgeon who treated Leah, had told him: ‘It’s a guessing game, you can’t see where you are going into.’
Ms Cambridge father, Craig, took his own life in 2021 with an inquest held in July last year hearing how he was never able to get past the loss of his daughter.
Diarra Akua Eunice Brown
Diarra Brown, 28, died after having liposuction in Turkey
Diarra Akua Eunice Brown, died aged 28, two days after getting liposuction at a clinic in the suburb of Bahcelievler in Istanbul, in October 2021.
She reportedly underwent the operation to have fat removed from her hips.
While the procedure initially appeared to be a success, Ms Brown ‘suddenly’ fell ill while having her dressings changed.
She died just hours later.
Social media posts from family and friends described her as a ‘beautiful soul’ and a ‘close friend’.
‘This must be a dream,’ one post said. ‘Still can’t come to terms with this yet.’
‘I miss you angel. I’m devastated you were taken away way before your time,’ said another.
Shannon Bowe
Shannon Bowe, 28 died after undergoing gastric band surgery in Turkey
Shannon Bowe, from Denny, near Falkirk, died while undergoing gastric band surgery in Turkey in April 2023.
The 28-year-old passed away during the procedure which involves placing a band around the stomach.
Where exactly Ms Bowe had the procedure in Turkey and the complication that led to her death have not been revealed.
In the aftermath of her death, Ms Bowe’s boyfriend Ross Stirling wrote on social media: ‘Sleep tight my angel, love you forever and always.’
Gastric band surgery involves a doctor placing a gastric band around the top of the stomach, creating a small pouch.
When the patient eats, this small pouch fills up more quickly than their stomach normally would, making them feel fuller with less food.
By encouraging them to eat less, the procedure can help patients lose weight.
Melissa Kerr
Melissa Kerr, 31, of Gorleston, Norfolk, died after having a BBL in Turkey
Melissa Kerr, 31, died while undergoing a Brazilian butt lift in Turkey in 2019, just before her wedding.
Ms Kerr traveled to Istanbul’s Medicana Haznedar Hospital in November that year for gluteal augmentation, which can cost up to £3,150.
The psychological wellbeing practitioner, from Gorleston, Norfolk, died from a blocked artery in her lung as a result of undergoing the surgery.
Her twin sister Natasha who set up a justgiving.com page after her death described her a ‘a pure and beautiful soul inside and out’.
She said: ‘Words cannot describe the pain and heartbreak we are going through, life without her will never be the same again.
‘We miss her deeply and nothing will fill the emptiness we are left with.’
Melissa’s partner Skye Birch said: ‘I will continue to love you with all my heart until my last breath.’
Ms Kerr also worked as a volunteer helping domestic violence victims and supporting people through bereavement.
Abimbola Ajoke Bamgbose
Abimbola Ajoke Bamgbose, 38, died after liposuction in Turkey
Abimbola Ajoke Bamgbose, a 38-year-old social worker, from Dartford, Kent, died in August 2020 after undergoing liposuction surgery in Turkey.
The mother-of-three bought an overseas package deal with Mono Cosmetic Surgery after becoming fed-up with people asking her if she was pregnant, according to her husband.
A post-mortem examination found that Mrs Bamgbose suffered perforations to her bowel during the surgery, with the cause of death given as peritonitis with multiple organ failure.
Peritonitis is an infection of the peritoneum, the inner lining of the tummy which covers vital internal organs like the kidneys, liver and bowel.
Her husband Moyosore Olowo told an inquest he was unaware his wife had traveled abroad for cosmetic surgery, instead believing she had simply gone on a holiday with her friends.
It was not until Mrs Bamgbose called her husband to say she was suffering from stomach pains following the procedure that he found out what had happened.
Mr Olowo said his wife had visited a private medical practice in the UK for surgery but added that the cost had been too high for her to have the treatment in Britain.
Carol Keenan
Carol Keenan, 54, died after having a BBL and tummy tuck in Turkey
Carol Keenan, 54, died six days after undergoing a combined Brazilian butt lift and tummy tuck in Turkey.
The grandmother, of Glenrothes, Fife, paid £7,000 for the procedures at a private hospital in Istanbul in 2022 after becoming anxious about the way her body looked.
Ms Keenan also accepted the offer of free abdominal muscle repair surgery shortly before she was taken into the operating theatre.
But she died before she was due to have a final check up and fly home.
Speaking to MailOnline in April, her family said they are still waiting for the results of her autopsy 11 months on from her death.
Her daughter Leonie Keenan, 32, said: ‘My mother was a fit and healthy individual. She was a very petite size 10 and she kept in shape by walking everywhere and going swimming.
‘She was a very active grandmother who loved bouncing on the trampoline with the kids-but she was not happy with her body even though everyone told her she looked great.
‘She set her heart on having surgery after seeing stories about other people and celebrities having procedures. I don’t know if it was like a mid-life crisis.’
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