EXCLUSIVE Heartbroken family reveal British grandmother, 54, collapsed and died six days after undergoing £7,000 Brazilian butt lift and tummy tuck in Turkey – as they battle to get results of her autopsy 11 months on
- Carol Keenan, 54, paid £7,000 to undergo the buttock enhancement procedure
- But she collapsed and died before she was due to have final check up to go home
The family of a British grandmother who died after Brazilian Butt Lift surgery in Turkey are still battling to get the results of her autopsy more than 11 months on, MailOnline can reveal.
Carol Keenan, 54, paid £7,000 to undergo the buttock enhancement procedure and a tummy tuck at a private hospital in Istanbul after becoming anxious about the way her body looked.
Her family revealed that she accepted an offer to get free abdominal muscle repair surgery shortly before she was taken into the operating theatre.
But Ms Keenan of Glenrothes, Fife, collapsed and died before she was due to have a final check up and fly home, just six days after her surgery.
Her daughter Leonie Keenan, 32, is still waiting for the results of an autopsy carried out in Turkey to establish how she died.
Carol Keenan of Glenrothes, Fife, collapsed and died before she was due to have a final check up and fly home, just six days after her surgery
Ms Keenan, right, who died after complications following Brazilian Butt Lift surgery in Istanbul, Turkey, last year. Pictured with her daughter Leonie
A spokesperson for the Onkoloji Hastanesi hospital said it had hired out its operating theatre for the use of the surgeon who operated on Ms Keenan
But she is convinced that her mother’s previously unreported death on April 20 last year was linked to the surgery that she underwent, with the most likely cause being a blood clot or a fat embolism which went to her heart or brain.
Leonie is now urging others to be aware of the risks of undergoing cut price cosmetic surgery as so-called ‘medical tourists’ in countries such as Turkey.
She spoke out after it was revealed that another Scottish woman, 28-year-old Shannon Bowe, had died last Saturday after travelling to Turkey for a gastric band operation.
Leonie 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.
Leonie said her divorced mother, a support worker for vulnerable adults, settled on ordering her surgery through the Clineca health tourism agency in Turkey after being impressed by the company’s reviews
Ms Keenan flew to Istanbul with her fiancé Steven Anderson, 55, to have her Brazilian Butt Lift and tummy tuck after saving up for 18 months. Pictured, Ms Keenan with her brother and grandchildren
‘From time to time, she would talk about her looks. If she read stories about tummy tucks or saw stories about the Kardashians and their bums, she would say, “Look at that”.
‘She went on Facebook and WhatsApp groups for people getting surgery, and that just encouraged her even more. She just felt she wanted to look more sculpted.
‘I was worried about her getting anything done. I told her that there was nothing wrong with her and she was fine the way she was.
‘But some people struggle with their body image. She didn’t see what others saw when they looked at her.’
Leonie said her divorced mother, a support worker for vulnerable adults, settled on ordering her surgery through the Clineca health tourism agency in Turkey after being impressed by the company’s reviews.
She flew to Istanbul with her fiancé Steven Anderson, 55, to have her Brazilian Butt Lift and tummy tuck after saving up for 18 months.
Shortly before undergoing her double operation, Carol was offered and accepted the chance to get a third procedure free of charge at the same time to sculpt her abdominal muscles and ‘improve how they looked’
Ms Keenan with her son, Andrew, daughter Leonie and grandson
Ms Keenan underwent a series of checks including blood tests the day before being cleared to have surgery the next day at the private Onkoloji Hastanesi hospital in Istanbul.
Shortly before undergoing her double operation, she was offered and accepted the chance to get a third procedure free of charge at the same time to sculpt her abdominal muscles and ‘improve how they looked’.
Her Brazilian Butt Lift involved removing fat by liposuction from her back and injecting it into her bottom.
Leonie said: ‘She had the three procedures done in one session. It took about three hours longer than was expected.
‘But afterwards she seemed to be quite happy and was doing all right. She spent three days in hospital and then was moved to a hotel for three days to recuperate.
After the operation Ms Keenan was visited in her hotel by medical staff who removed her drains and gave her a lymphatic massage on the night of April 19
‘The hotel was full of other British people who had undergone procedures ranging from hair transplants to boob jobs.
‘I spoke to her every day on Facetime and she seemed to be fine. She was eating in her room and her partner was helping her get to the loo. She was a bit sore which was not surprising after three surgeries.
‘She sent me photos of herself and said she could see the change in her abdomen, but was unsure whether she could see anything on her bottom.
‘I only found out later that a BBL was one of the riskiest procedures you can have. I don’t think my mum realised at the time how dangerous it was.
‘Various reviews for the company which organised her surgery and stories on Facebook were painting a picture about the surgery being inspirational and positive.’
Mother-of-three Leonie, a pupil support worker, said her mother was visited in her hotel by medical staff who removed her drains and gave her a lymphatic massage on the night of April 19.
She added: ‘The next day she got up and was feeling really good. She got dressed to go back to the hospital for a check up before flying home.
‘But just as she reached the taxi outside the hotel with her fiancé Stevie, she suddenly collapsed. She was breathing, but unresponsive.
‘A lady who was a nurse stopped to help Stevie, and stroked my mum’s head. It was 20 to 30 minutes before an ambulance arrived.
‘Stevie was not allowed to join her in the ambulance and the lady who stopped took him to the hospital.
‘Sadly my mum’s heart stopped in the ambulance and she was given CPR by the paramedics, but they could not save her.
‘When Stevie arrived at the hospital, they kept telling him that things were OK, but then someone came over and told him she had passed.
‘He was left figuring out what to do with all the language barriers. My mum was taken to a mortuary, but Stevie said it looked like it was in a disgusting condition and he insisted on her being moved to a funeral home.’
Leonie said she was ‘devastated’ to receive a text message from Stevie informing her that her mother had died.
She said: ‘It was hard to process because I wasn’t with her. She was always so healthy. She went out there healthy, and she didn’t come back. It was hard to accept.
‘I was trying to get hold of the British consulate to get help, and we had to arrange for her body to come home.’
Leonie said her mother had medical insurance which paid the for her body to be brought back to Scotland, although faced the indignity of seeing her coffin being wheeled from the plane to the cargo centre at Edinburgh airport on a luggage trolley.
Her body was accompanied by a death certificate, saying that an autopsy had ‘determined’ her cause of death, but it did not give further details. Leonie said she tried in vain to get an explanation about how her mother died, but failed to get a ‘detailed response’ or the conclusion of the autopsy.
Instead, she was sent two A4-sized pieces of paper, filled in halfway down and listing medication that her mother had been given, a description of her operation and the names of medical staff involved with her.
She was finally contacted by the British consulate last week to say that files about her mother’s death and the autopsy results had been released in Turkey and would be sent to her within two or three weeks.
Leonie added: ‘My mum was a big personality. You always knew when she was in the room.
‘At her funeral, she was described as a person with fire in her belly and a passion in her heart. She had a love for life.
‘Above everything she was devoted to her grandchildren. She would see them three days a week, take them for tea, pick them up after school and take them on days out.
‘Her death is clearly linked to the surgery. We as a family believe that if she did not have these procedures, she would still be alive today.
‘We have questions about how well she was monitored after the operation. I understand that blood clots can give people a burning sensation. If she had something like that, it should have alerted the people looking after her.
‘I think the Turkish authorities make it too easy for people to jump on planes and get these procedures. People think they are going out on a medical package holiday to make themselves look better – but they need to realise that it could cost their lives.’
Istanbul-based Clineca which boasts on its website that it offers ‘a complete cosmetic surgery experience focusing on beauty, safety and comfort’, did not respond to requests for comment.
The company’s website states that it arranges surgery ‘in prestigious hospitals with intensive care units and doctors from all specialties to maximise safety’, along with airport transfers and ‘special discounts in luxurious hotels’.
A spokesperson for the Onkoloji Hastanesi hospital said it had hired out its operating theatre for the use of the surgeon who operated on Ms Keenan. But they added that the surgeon was no longer connected with the hospital and was unable to comment further.
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