Shocking images reveal how nurse was mutilated after 'bargain deal' tummy tuck in Turkey

The 29-year-old from South Dublin revealed she now hates her 'deformed body' after she was left with an oozing, gaping hole in her stomach after going under the knife in Istanbul.

The young nurse who wishes to remain anonymous was lured in like thousands of Irish people who travel abroad each year with the promise of cut-price surgery.

The Dubliner's horror story comes as tributes continue to be paid to Waterford mother, Carol Sheehan, who died during a medical procedure in the popular holiday destination earlier this month. The mum-of-two's death follows that of Tony Rogers (66), who died in April when he flew to Istanbul for a dental procedure.

The healthcare worker who underwent a 360-tummy tuck, upper back lift and breast lift in October, now wants to warn other people before it's too late.

"I feel worse about my body now, I was more confident before I got the surgery. The tummy tuck was a disaster and now my stomach just looks disfigured. I just feel deformed. I don't want to go on dates or put myself out there. Underneath my clothes is just horrible."

In Ireland, the average tummy tuck can cost upwards of €10,000, so the nurse was initially overjoyed when she found a Turkish clinic offering slashed down prices for the popular surgery.

"I got all my surgeries for €8,000. At home they would have cost upwards of €30,000 but I feel like I've paid a huge price."

After hours on the operating table, the popular nurse spent two nights in hospital and then spent the rest of her stay in a nearby hotel.

"I was told my bandages needed to stay on for ten days, so even before I flew home on the seventh day the doctor didn't take the tape or bandages off me to inspect how I was healing."

Just three days after returning to Ireland, the medic was faced with a gaping, puss-filled wound.

"I was left with this awful hole in my stomach that kept getting bigger and bigger. I had no cells or tissue from hip to hip and I was leaking over a litre of fluid a day.

"Dressings would only last three hours and get saturated. I would go through eight surgical pads a day and then I had to wear a proper incontinence nappy because there was so much fluid."

Forced to seek urgent medical help, the front-line worker said she was failed by the Turkish clinic

"I had an aftercare nurse from the clinic in Turkey who I could contact through WhatsApp when I got home; I sent her pictures of the wound and she told me to put medical grade manuka honey on it. Not once did she say, 'go to your doctor'. The aftercare was just non-existent."

Increasingly worried about the fear of sepsis and infection, the healthcare professional visited her GP.

"They told me to go to A&E but when I got there the message was basically 'unless you have sepsis we aren't looking at you'. Hospitals are frustrated that people are going abroad and they have to clean up the mess."

It was a month later before the nurse was fitted with a Vac machine, a specialist vacuum pump that pulls fluid and infection from the wound, and slowly began her journey to recovery.

"I got the machine from the VHI and when they were measuring the wound they were able to fit the full measuring stick, which is about the length of a Covid swab fully inside my stomach and twirl it 360 degrees."

The nurse who is returning to another Turkish clinic to correct her surgery is now urging people to do their research.

"I read all the reviews and saw other nurses that had had amazing results and this still happened. I'd really just ask people to be so mindful of what clinic they choose when they go to Turkey. Don't ever go with a package that transfers you to a hotel, you should be constantly observed by a doctor.

"I was so stressed and crying every day before I was put on the Vac machine. I just said to myself, 'Why did I get it done and why did I go abroad?

"The clinic said they would correct it for me but it would be three thousand, but I wouldn't go back to them even if it was for free."

With concern rising over the number of cosmetic tourists leaving Ireland to seek surgery abroad, a new study revealed eight young women who underwent surgeries included liposuction, buttock lift, buttock filler injection and breast augmentation were admitted to the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in St James's Hospital in the space of four months.

Half of those women who suffered complications or needed reconstructive surgery had travelled abroad.

Leah Wynne (29), who underwent a gastric sleeve bypass last October in a Turkish clinic has also issued a stark warning about cosmetic tourism.

The mum-of-two who lives in Louth with her young family said that staggering weight-loss surgery prices in Ireland made her research hospitals in Turkey.

"My surgery would have cost €15,000 and in Turkey it cost me €3,500 so we took out a loan and we made it happen.

"From the very beginning it felt like myself and the other women were in a cattle mart. The hospital was falling apart and so manky, the actual rooms are pristine but the rest of the place was in a bad way.

"The staff didn't have a clue, I was black and blue because they couldn't find a vein, they were actually caught practicing injecting on each other on our floor."

Recalling the moment she was brought to theatre the devoted mum said she was stripped of her humanity:"You are completely naked under your gown. They stripped me off and strapped my arms down while I was still awake. I was raped at 17 and that was massive trigger for me.

"I was naked lying on the bed while people were walking around me and I was bawling, asking could they cover me until I was asleep.

"I woke up In ICU and I had never been in so much pain, I was begging for pain relief but there was just one nurse in the corner watching Netflix, ignoring me.

"The agency said there would be a translator there all the time but that just wasn't the case and it's so scary asking for help when nobody can understand you."

Having opened up about her ordeal on her popular Instagram page @leahwynne27 the Dubliner said: "When I came round properly they said that I had a hernia and told me they had fixed it and they charged me an extra €500 for that.

"I was struggling to breathe and had oxygen for most of my stay, at one point I just thought I am not going to make it home, I was terrified," she said.

"I left the hospital with a temperature and they told me to just cool off in front of a fan, when I flew home I went to the hospital and had an infection.

"For them it's not about care it's about money. They offer packages and throw in Botox and dental work, too; it's all money.

"I am not saying all clinics are the same but I would always tell people to do your homework.

"After I came home I found a botched page about my clinic, if I had realised that page existed I would never have went.

"A woman messaged me and told me that herself and her mother went to the same clinic and her mother died of sepsis when they came home.

"There are things I would love to change about myself but I will never put myself through that again. It is irreversible and such a huge decision."