Butt-lift death girl’s surgeon reveals that the controversial Towie operation can rupture organs
One patient Keisha Rutter said she felt excruciating pain and could not sit down for six weeks afterwards, but admits the procedure was worth the risk
THE surgeon who performed a Brazilian butt-lift on tragic Leah Cambridge admitted in a TV documentary that the controversial procedure was a matter of “life or death”.
Dr Ali Uckan warned that organs could be ruptured — as another woman who was operated on by him told how it felt like she had been “run over.”
Beautician Keshia Rutter, 30, was left in excruciating pain after having a Brazilian butt-lift at the same Turkish clinic where Leah died.
She could not sit down for six weeks and told of her “guilt” at splashing out £5,000 for the procedure, which involves fat being sucked out of the tummy then injected into the bottom.
Dr Uckan said it was very popular among British women — though he also warned that patients could die from it.
He told a new documentary series, filmed before Leah’s death: “I average two patients a day. The United Kingdom love BBL (Brazilian Butt Lift).
“In every surgery you have risks, like imbalance, bleeding, infection or clot. But if you just hit somewhere wrong and just rupture the internal organ....”
He trails off but asked whether the operation was a matter of “life and death” he sternly replies: “Yes.”
Gerard Lambe, of the British Association of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgeons, said the BBL had the “highest death rate of all procedures”.
He said: “The risk of fatality is high. A 2017 survey of 692 surgeons from across the world found 32 patients had died from fat embolism.”
Mum of three Leah collapsed shortly after the start of her butt-lift op at the Elite Aftercare clinic in Ismir.
Graphic footage shows Keshia — who admits doing little research ahead of the op — being sliced open before fat is pumped from her belly into her bottom.
She had begged Dr Uckan to make her behind as big as possible during three-part series Sex, Knives & Liposuction on the W channel.
Keshia is seen asking him: “Can you go as big as you can? I want all this love handle in my bum.”
Dr Uckan replies: “That’s what I do every time.”
Brutal Stabbing
By Cherry Healey, Documentary Maker
I HAD never seen surgery before. It knocked me sideways. The surgeon talks in hushed tones and it seems lovely then “Bam” you’re covered in iodine and look like a dead body.
The surgeon stabs at you with a long poker, breaking down your fat, then a comedy syringe sucks your fat out and sticks it in your butt.
It was so awful to see this beautiful girl being stabbed with brutality. I thought: “How have we got to this place where this wonderful girl is spending so much money on being butchered?”
I felt really protective over her. I wanted to fling her over my shoulder in a fireman’s lift and run out.
She’s been in a really bad car accident, she told me. She said: “As long as the pain isn’t as bad as that.” After she said it was 20 times worse.
I’d never seen swelling or bruising like that. I think she’d no idea how bad it was going to be. I hope people think twice about cosmetic surgery.
We live in a shallow society where women are celebrated for their bodies. Who cares if you’re clever as long as you’ve got nice boobs? That’s the message. Women are responding to their environment.
But afterwards Liverpool-based Keshia was left in crippling pain, telling film-maker Cherry Healey: “I felt like I was ran over, fell off a cliff and hit by a cricket bat.”
Hours after regaining consciousness Keshia added: “I’m just so tight and swollen. You can just feel the compression, like it’s gonna pop.
“The horrible part was the blood leaks out and the fat. I was weeing and I had bandages round me and the whole bathroom was covered. I was projectile vomiting.”
The clinic boasts that clients get “UK standards of care.”
But Keshia, who booked online, did not meet Dr Uckan until an hour before going under in April.
Keshia spent six days recovering at Elite’s luxury villa, an hour’s drive from the hospital in Izmir.
Guests have private saunas and jacuzzis in their spacious bedrooms, as well as round-the-clock care from nurses and a private chef.
However after flying home Keshia could not sit down for six weeks and had to wait three months for the swelling to subside.
Speaking ahead of the operation she explained she wanted to boost her confidence — and to be able to “twerk”. She said: “I went my bum to go up and out, so I can twerk a bit.
“I’m having fat sucked out of my belly, and all my back and I want my chin lipo’d.
“It’s like recycling the fat. I’m doing the op for me, but I don’t really date because I don’t feel 100 per cent when it comes to a guy. I think, ‘Am I perfect enough?’
“You might start speaking to a guy and like a guy and then he likes all these pictures on social media, and I think ‘I don’t look like the girls he’s liking. I don’t look like that.’
“So I think if I’m happy in myself then I can make someone else happy and we can be happy together.”
But she admitted feeling guilty at the cost of the procedure. She said: “It’s costing me £5,000, that’s all my own money, from savings. I feel bad. It’s crazy because I’m really close to my mum, I’m close to all my family, it makes me feel a bit emotional.
“Sometimes I do feel like I’m wasting a lot of money, I think, ‘Am I being selfish splashing out on something when I could help my mum out?’
“My family haven’t got a lot of money and I’ve worked my a*** off literally to get an a***. So I have that guilt, but then I’m here and I want it done and I’m getting it done.”
Before going under the knife she admitted to film-maker Cherry, 37, right, her main source of research has been social-networking site Instagram.
She said: “I don’t even know what the risks are. Obviously it could go wrong, which is one big thing.
“The research I’ve done is Instagram-scrolling. I’d rather not know, I’d rather go and if it doesn’t work out the way I want it then tough s*** on me. I literally don’t know what protection I have if there is a problem. I’ve literally just gone with the flow, I’ve booked in, got everything signed on email, booked the flights and then here I am.”
Brazilian butt-lifts were made famous by US reality TV star Kim Kardashian and have rocketed worldwide over the last two years.
Leah had 3 heart attacks during cosmetic operation
By Johnathan Reilly and Robin Perrie
TRAGIC Leah Cambridge died after suffering three heart attacks during her Brazilian butt-lift op in Turkey.
The 29-year-old had booked the £5,000 cosmetic procedure because she felt self-conscious about her “mum tum” after giving birth to her three children.
Fiancé Scott Franks, 31, had reassured her she was beautiful — but she went ahead anyway.
The operation, which sees fat extracted from the waist and injected into the buttocks, is popular among women seeking the benefits of a flatter stomach and more pert behind.
But complications set in shortly after surgery began at the Elite Aftercare clinic in Ismir — which claims to have carried out cosmetic ops on celebs including Towie’s Amber Dowding and Lauren Goodger.
Leah fell ill after fat entered her blood stream and her oxygen levels dropped. Doctors stabilised her, but her condition deteriorated again and she died following the heart attacks.
Scaffolding boss Scott, of Leeds, said: “Leah was under anaesthetic and complications happened due to fat getting deposited in her blood stream and her oxygen levels fell.
“She was brought back to stable but had three heart attacks and there was nothing they could do.”
He added: “Leah was paranoid that she had excess weight round her stomach from having kids. I told her she was beautiful as she was, but she wanted it for her own confidence.”
Leah jetted to Turkey on Sunday but when she didn’t answer her phone on Monday Scott grew worried. He then got a phone call to say she had died on the operating table.
Scott, who then flew to Turkey with Leah’s parents, admitted yesterday he had not yet broken the news to his youngest sons, aged two and four.
The dad, whose eldest son is 12, added: “I can’t imagine being in the house without Leah. I wish we could turn back time.”
Brazilian butt lifts were made famous by American reality TV star Kim Kardashian.
Last night Elite Aftercare insisted in a statement it is “responsibly run”. It added: “As such, it takes its responsibilities extremely seriously.”
However foreign cosmetic surgery operations have cost the NHS about £30million since 2013.
Elite’s aftercare manager Adi reveals that patients are often shocked by the pain of treatments, but come back for more when they see the results.
He said: “They come out saying, ‘Oh my God I hate it, I’m not going to have it again’, and then in four weeks they send us emails saying, ‘When can I come back for something else?’ I think girls get it done for other girls. They think, ‘Look at her shape, she looks amazing. I want to look like that’. Girls like to make other girls jealous.” Despite weeks of agony and uncertainty, Keshia said the procedure was worth the risk.
MOST READ IN BIZARRE
Nightmare shows risk
LEAH’S death highlights both the risks of butt lift ops and travelling abroad for cosmetic surgery, an expert claimed.
Consultant surgeon Gerard Lambe of the British Association of Aesthetic and Plastic Sur- geons said: “BBL has the highest death rate of all procedures.
“Travelling abroad for surgery is something that BAAPS strongly disagrees with as you can’t be certain about the surgeons or hospital treating you.
“Don’t compromise your safety for the sake of a discount.”
She said: “I feel like it was worth the pain. When I walk down the street I get more attention. In the taxi back home the cab driver said, ‘You’ve got a bum like Kim K.’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’ve just had it done.’
“I want to date eventually, but right now it’s good having a bit of attention.
“I feel more confident, even clothes I was going to throw away, I’m putting them on and I like them again.
“It’s made me feel more womanly It’s made me feel more like me. I’d say do whatever makes you happy.”
- SEX, Knives & Liposuction is on W channel on Thursday, September 20 at 10pm.
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