‘I can honestly say I’d prefer to still be obese and never have had the surgery’, reveals Lucy
MUM Lucy Mawson, 32, has a grim warning for anyone who
is planning to travel abroad for surgery.
As I fastened the buckle on my seatbelt and listened to the captain’s words, my heart sank.
Mum Lucy Mawson has a grim warning for anyone who is planning to travel abroad for surgery
Lucy had a budget operation in Turkey to get a gastric sleeve fitted
Screaming in agony
Diets and exercise did not seem to work. I would shed a few pounds then, within weeks, put them back on again.
The NHS would usually only fund the op for people with a BMI — which measures height against weight — of 40-plus.
Privately, gastric sleeve surgery in the UK costs between £7,000 and £11,000, so going to Turkey, where it is much cheaper, seemed like a brilliant idea.
I found the surgery where the woman on TikTok had hers done and my grandparents agreed to loan me £3,100 to pay for it.
I’ve since read about Hayley Butler, 40, from Norwich, who died after having gastric sleeve surgery in Turkey last month and it’s terrible.
Last year, Shannon Meenan Browse, from Derry, Northern Ireland, was 32 when she died as a result of her surgery in Turkey 18 months earlier.
But I wasn’t worried in 2019 about my mum’s warnings. “That won’t happen to me,” I thought at the time, although I stupidly hadn’t even bothered to look at the surgery online.
The plane turning back seemed like a bad omen and the subsequent 23-hour delay an even worse one.
I hated my body and thought it was revolting. I’d struggled with my weight since I was a teenager
Lucy
“Please don’t do it, this is a sign,” my mum pleaded after I called.
But even though a part of me thought she had a point, I was determined.
I hated my body and thought it was revolting. I’d struggled with my weight since I was a teenager and had tried every diet under the sun.
When I looked in the mirror, I didn’t see a curvy, sexy woman, just a massive blob.
