00:00Feeling good, with perfect figures, the advertising of cosmetic surgery clinics and agencies.
00:13Countries like Turkey are attracting customers with their budget prices, but the fantasy
00:17of a flawless appearance can often end with lifelong scarring, and in the worst cases,
00:28even in death.
00:34Every year, hundreds of thousands of British women fly to Turkey for cosmetic surgery,
00:40and are often in for a nasty shock.
00:45We only rent them the operating room.
00:49Now victims of medical malpractice and the families of those who have died are demanding
01:25A few days after this voice message from Turkey, Erin Gibson's daughter was dead.
01:32Twenty-year-old Morgan from South London had long struggled with her weight.
01:37She wanted to put an end to being bullied.
01:41In 2023, she spotted an advertisement from this agency in Switzerland, claiming to be
01:46the number one in Europe.
01:49They would arrange cosmetic surgery in Turkey, flights and accommodation included, a common
01:54business model in the industry.
01:57Morgan was offered the surgery for a third of the price she would pay in Britain.
02:01She was referred to a doctor and a clinic in Istanbul.
02:04At the end of the year, Morgan posted a video to her TikTok account.
02:11Hi, my name is Morgan, I'm 20 years old and on the 5th of January 2024, I'm having weight
02:20loss surgery, specifically a gastric sleeve.
02:25It feels crazy to say that out loud because I've wanted this for so long.
02:29What Morgan didn't know, the agency Global Medical Care turns out to be little more than
02:35a name on the mailbox of a Zurich rental property.
02:39She couldn't find an office.
02:41Upon enquiry, the agency stated that they meet clients there by appointment only.
02:49Shortly after New Year's Day 2024, Morgan and her boyfriend Jamie flew from London to
02:55Istanbul.
03:00She thought, yeah, new year, new life, new body.
03:06She wanted to learn more about the beauty business and travelled to Istanbul.
03:11Hundreds of thousands of medical tourists come here every year, with the trend on the
03:15rise.
03:18The full gamut of beauty treatments is available, from hair transplants, to breast augmentation,
03:25to liposuction, all at comparatively affordable prices.
03:32According to the government, 1.5 million patients visited Turkey in 2023, a billion-dollar business
03:39for the struggling local economy.
03:42Most treatments are carried out without complications, and many clinics and doctors enjoy good reputations.
03:49The fiercely competitive market, though, is increasingly attracting ruthless business
03:53people.
03:58The day after her arrival, Morgan was taken to the designated private clinic in an Istanbul
04:04suburb, a hospital which has received dozens of complaints on Turkish websites.
04:11Following the breast augmentation, the silicone has slipped.
04:14They're denying any responsibility.
04:18Egg-sized bumps on my stomach after liposuction.
04:21They're demanding another 3,000 euros for a follow-up operation.
04:26Allegedly, the employees have only received their wages irregularly for years now.
04:30In the past three years, the owner has changed several times.
04:34After the surgery, Morgan complained of persistent pain.
04:37Nevertheless, she was discharged after three days.
04:41On the return flight, she collapsed.
04:43An emergency landing was made in the Serbian capital, Belgrade, where a few days later,
04:48despite an emergency operation, she died.
04:56Serbian forensic scientist Djordje Alampjevic was responsible for the autopsy.
05:04It was a profound infection and then septicemia, you know, so spreading of infection.
05:10Doctors had removed a segment of a small intestine, which appears to be damaged, injured, during
05:21the surgical procedure, which was presiding all these happenings and which took place
05:27in Istanbul, in Turkey.
05:29We wanted to speak to the people in charge of the Istanbul clinic about Morgan Ribeiro's case.
05:35The director remembered the young woman from England, but waived any responsibility.
05:42We only rent them the operating room.
05:44The doctor is not one of ours.
05:46They just rented the OR from us for the operation.
05:49The doctor works for another clinic.
05:52A version of events that was disputed by the Global Medical Care Agency when we approached them.
06:02We also contacted the doctor in Istanbul, who rejected any accusations of malpractice.
06:08He declined to be interviewed.
06:11I've already said all that's necessary.
06:14There was supposedly an infection and who knows what else.
06:17It's all too easy to slander someone.
06:23Morgan Ribeiro isn't the first British resident who has not survived an operation in Turkey.
06:29In the past five years, at least 28 British women have died as a result of surgeries there.
06:36Some British politicians are now calling for a ban on advertising such medical tourism
06:41over the internet.
06:47Sarah Platt was lured in by a similar offer.
06:50Today, she says she barely survived a tummy tuck and breast surgery in Turkey.
06:55Back home in Wales, she needed nine follow-up surgeries to return some semblance of normal life.
07:08I used to be very outgoing and go out wherever.
07:12I don't do any of that anymore.
07:13I absolutely hate my body now.
07:16On February 7, 2023, 33-year-old Sarah flew to Antalya on the Mediterranean Sea,
07:23accompanied by her parents.
07:25The Turkish metropolis is one of the country's hotspots for medical tourism.
07:29She too had booked through an agency.
07:32Yes, I was taken to the hotel and before I'd even been taken to my room,
07:37like literally, I hadn't even seen the doctor again or nothing.
07:41They wanted payment as soon as I got to the hotel.
07:44Following the surgery, Platt says the ordeal began.
07:47Her wounds weren't healing.
07:49She was nonetheless discharged from hospital and taken to her hotel.
07:54I had pain everywhere and I was vomiting and I was crying and I was screaming
07:58and then I'd pass out and then I'd come back round and then I'd pass out again.
08:02I've got the message still, like, when do they change my bandages?
08:05And I had a message back on WhatsApp saying, they don't, they don't.
08:09You leave them bandages on, it's better for the healing.
08:12And I was thinking, I haven't had a bath in nine days.
08:16Do you mean I haven't had a shower? I haven't been washed.
08:19Do you mean the smell of this rotting, I could smell rotting flesh.
08:24I remember Dean walking me into the shower.
08:26All this, all this gunk just kept, was pouring out.
08:30And I was like, I was screaming.
08:32And I remember being like, Dean, it's blood, like, Dean, it's blood.
08:37Even over a year later, she's still suffering from the fallout.
08:41She's sued the Turkish clinic for damages.
08:44Through social media, she's connected with other British victims
08:48of mishandled Turkish cosmetic surgeries.
08:51She intends to fight for her rights.
08:56Late June, London, opposite the Houses of Parliament at Westminster,
09:00a Turkish medical tourism fair promoting exactly these kinds of surgeries is being held.
09:05When Sarah Platt hears about it, she's outraged.
09:08She wants to expose the industry's methods.
09:10Fitted with a hidden camera, she visits a clinic's booth
09:13and feigns interest in gastric reduction surgery.
09:17The representative initially advises against the procedure.
09:23Your BMI?
09:2429.5.
09:2529? Oh, you don't look it.
09:28OK, for gastric sleeve surgery, a BMI of 29 is really low.
09:34That's not possible.
09:37But not five minutes later, she receives a WhatsApp message
09:41from the same provider with an alternative offer.
09:45I'm on about a gastric balloon.
09:48It would be my pleasure to help you, I say.
09:52However, a gastric balloon is only recommended for people with a BMI over 30.
09:57Some medical societies even advise against the risky method altogether.
10:04Genco Çetin Kanat, from the Turkish Chamber of Commerce,
10:08relies above all on the judgment of patients.
10:11They should not fall for the bargain offers advertised.
10:17If your only focus is price, this is not going to be the right decision.
10:23But you have to understand why this is cheap.
10:27Check your doctor, if that doctor is European board certified
10:32or Turkish medical authorities accredited that doctor for international health tourism.
10:40At this stage, the only option left open for Sarah Platt
10:43and many other victims of botched cosmetic surgeries
10:46is to sue those responsible in Turkey from Britain.
10:50It's a painstaking process,
10:52one that's often accompanied by British-Turkish lawyer Berja Orhan.
10:56A lot of the time, people who have solid cases come to me.
11:00They just can't deal with the financial or emotional aspect
11:03of having to sue in another country, therefore they give up.
11:07She's of the opinion that stricter regulation of the intermediary agencies,
11:11for instance, could better protect patients.
11:14If these medical tourism agencies were to be insured,
11:18they had to go through qualifications like we all do,
11:21estate agents, anyone really, surveyors.
11:25So none of this would happen.
11:28Because what they will do then, these medical agencies,
11:31will start picking the surgeons who won't make these mistakes.
11:35Mistakes that can end in death, as they did for Morgan Ribeiro.
11:40Her mother hopes that public knowledge of her daughter's fate
11:43will prevent other young women from risking their health and their lives for looks.
11:51My daughter deserved to feel confident in her own skin,
11:55regardless of her size.
11:57She deserved to be beautiful and feel beautiful without stigma,
12:01without being bullied.
12:03She deserved to have a life as much as anybody else
12:06or any other 20-year-old who is alive.
12:10She hadn't even begun to live life yet.
12:15She was so full of promise.
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