Brit's organs 'turn to concrete' after gastric sleeve op in Turkey

05 March 2023 , 17:59

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Pinky Jolley, 45, has been left with horror complications from a gastric sleeve operation (Image: Pinky Jolley / SWNS)

A woman is fighting for her life after a horror gastric sleeve operation in Turkey left her stomach "like concrete".

Pinky Jolley, 45, made the decision to travel to Istanbul for the procedure last year after reaching a dress size of 24, with doctors having preciously aired concerns over her weight after serious medical complications left her in a wheelchair.

At 17st 11lbs (112kg), she launched a GoFundMe to "allow her to have a future" after spending four years on NHS waiting lists.

Pinky quickly raised £2,000 and flew to Turkey in November after booking herself in for the operation, which permanently reduces the size of the stomach by 85%.

Despite harbouring some concerns upon arrival about the invasive procedure, she decided to go ahead.

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But the two-hour operation left Pinky with a myriad of complications soon afterwards, including intense abdominal pain, vomiting, and dehydration.

Pinky flew to Turkey in November after booking herself in for the operation (Pinky Jolley / SWNS)

She arrived back home to Wirral in December 2022, where her GP urged her to go to hospital immediately, reports the Liverpool Echo.

An emergency CT scan at Arrow Park Hospital showed a serious leak after surgery led to an infection which had turned her internal organs "to concrete".

Commenting on her experience since the surgery, Pinky said: "I feel misled and upset that something that was meant to help has caused me so much suffering. I've lost four stone in four weeks because my stomach is tiny.

"I wanted to lose eight stone within two years. I've had to have a feeding tube to help but everything is so painful. After nearly dying I just wish I never got a gastric sleeve.

The procedure in Istanbul gave her intense abdominal pain and vomiting before doctors back home diagnosed her with an infection (Pinky Jolley / SWNS)

''They totally botched the operation and left my insides so infected they were all hard and like concrete the doctors said.

"It's been a horrible ordeal I just want to be well again. Looking back it was so cheap that I really should have thought twice but I just got so swept up.''

Three surgeons were forced to ''jet-wash'' the inside of her stomach to save her life on January 29, before she battled sepsis in the Royal Liverpool University Hospital for over a month.

She was finally able to return home earlier this year but has been left been unable to eat solid food due to fear of further infection, and now relies on a feeding tube to sustain her.

Pinky - who now weighs 13 stone (82kg) and acknowledges she is "lucky to be alive" - has since warned others against having similar cut-price procedures done, saying: "No one should have to go through this pain.

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"I'm so thankful for all the help I've received when I returned. I've lost so much weight, but this isn't how I wanted it to happen",

Aaliyah Rugg