Mum-of-two dies after flying to Turkey for £2,750 weight loss surgery
A mum-of-two passed away during a weight loss operation in Turkey, an inquest has heard. Janet Savage, 54, travelled to Antalya to undergo a gastric sleeve operation but sadly never came round from the £2,750 cosmetic procedure. Janet went into cardiac arrest during the surgery and eventually died in the intensive care unit in August 2023 due to acute blood loss.
An inquest into her death found she passed away after sustaining damage to one of her main arteries during the procedure. Janet reached out to a company called Regenesis Health Travel last year to organise the surgery and within 24 hours she had booked her trip to Turkey.
Alison Ergun, a client service officer at Regenesis Health Travel, said in a statement for the inquest: "There was a complication and she had stopped breathing in the first few minutes of surgery." She also added that Janet was "worried" about the surgeon and asked for information about him when she booked the surgery.
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Janet had told Regenesis that she was taking Ozempic but could no longer access it, leading her to worry about gaining weight. She shared her hopes of losing 19kg and informed the company her BMI sat at 30.7.
North West Wales senior coroner Kate Robertson said notes taken by the surgeon, Dr Ramazan Azar, revealed Janet had a 3-4mm "defect" in her aorta artery when the gastric sleeve operation began, which led to heavy bleeding. He also said Janet's aorta artery was repaired by the surgical team and they then proceeded to cancel the gastric sleeve procedure due to potential complications.
Yet, medical staff failed to locate a pulse and Janet was pronounced dead on 6 August. A postmortem was carried out in Wales once Janet's body had been flown back to the UK.
The NHS has warned Brits to be super cautious when looking into having surgery abroad. In a post shared online, the organisation says: "Be cautious of websites selling cosmetic surgery as part of a holiday. If you're looking at holiday packages: make sure you have a consultation with the surgeon (avoid meetings only with sales people).
"Do not pay for a hospital you have never seen. Do not pay to see a surgeon you have not met. While it's possible to have a holiday before surgery, it's unrealistic to have one straight after as this can increase the risk of things going wrong. You need to rest. You should not drink alcohol, lie in the sun, go sightseeing or go in the water."
