Turkey ‘Mummy makeover’: Mum left ‘lumpy and bumpy’ after £7k surgery in Istanbul warns others not to risk it

Emma Witney has revealed she regrets flying to Turkey for a £7k ‘mummy makeover’ and has encouraged others to ‘not take the risk’ when it comes to surgery. The 46-year-old jetted out to Istanbul on March 7 to get a tummy tuck, breast lift and a ‘fleur de lis’ procedure, which removes abdominal fat.

But more than four months later, she has revealed she’s unhappy with the results - and worries the problems are unfixable. Mum-of-six Emma, from Seaford, East Sussex, claims she’s still prone to bouts of agonising pain, and her body feels “tight and odd”.

The clinic, which is not being named, was approached for comment but did not respond. Emma, a PA to children with additional needs, said: “I got the surgery in the first place because I was depressed and I wanted to feel better about myself.

“But it’s gone so badly I’m now having to double my anti-depressant dose. I paid so much money and now I can’t do anything about it. Don’t take the risk. If you can save enough and do it over here [the UK], do it.”

Emma says she had tried to postpone the appointment as her mum had died only the day before. But she claims the clinic said it would be best to go ahead - so she went under the knife.

Emma was then left in “horrendous” pain after the surgery which continues to this day, she claims. She said: “At first I thought it would be okay after the swelling went down.

“They told me the bumps were fluid that I’d need to get drained out with lymphatic massages. But after 10 weeks of getting specialist massages I was told it’s not fluid.

“My tummy goes into a V shape, and it’s bumpy too. One of my boobs is bigger than the other and my right arm puckers where it’s been sewed tightly.

“It feels so tight and odd.”

Emma was left with loose skin across her body after having a gastric bypass in December 2020, losing 11.5 stone. She began to look into options for excess skin removal and found a surgery clinic online.

While a ‘mummy makeover’ would have cost up to £27k in the UK, she saw the Turkish clinic was offering the same procedure at a rate of just £7k. Emma added that she couldn’t see any negative reviews, so decided to enquire in November 2022.

By December, she was booked in for her procedure for the upcoming March. Emma then revealed she received bad news the day before, but as she had prepaid for the surgery, it had to go ahead.

She said: “I was devastated when they said they couldn’t change the date. I felt so guilty leaving my children for a week but I knew I wouldn’t be able to go and do it again.”

Emma also claims her post-op care wasn’t what she would have expected. She said: “Luckily I had taken my own pain relief over. I can’t imagine what I would have done if I hadn’t.”

Once she arrived back in the UK a week later, Emma says she was told to get lymphatic drainage massages to reduce the swelling. After spending a further £500 on a course of ten massages, Emma was dismayed to find she would be left permanently with “lumps and bumps”.

She said: “There’s not much I can do at this point. No one’s getting back to me. Now I’m healed I’ve been left all lumpy and bumpy - it’s awful.

“I never would have expected to have paid all that money and be left like this. Now I don’t have anything left to fix it.”

The clinic has been approached for a comment but did not respond.