British woman, 38, 'died while having Brazilian butt lift in Turkey'

A British woman died while she was having a Brazilian butt lift, a court heard. Hayley Dowell travelled to Turkey last year for a string of surgeries including a tummy tuck, BBL and liposuction.

The 38-year-old paid more than £7,000 for the procedures at the BHT Clinic in Istanbul on October 2. She died at about midnight on October 3 after suffering an embolism.

A coroner's court heard her surgeon was said to have walked out during the procedure. Her husband Neil Dowell flew to Turkey with his wife on October 1 ahead of the surgery.

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He claimed doctors at the clinic did not properly inform his wife of the risks before her operations, Mirror reports. Mr Dowell even said medics asked him to sign a consent form after his wife had died.

Mrs Dowell, from Eastleigh, Hampshire, was one of an estimated six Britons who died in Turkey in 2023 following alleged botched medical procedures. Turkey is a popular destination for cosmetic surgery due to low prices - but has become the subject of warnings by UK health officials.

Winchester Coroner's Court heard during an inquest opening that Mrs Dowell suffered an embolism - an issue which can arise after surgery and causes a potentially fatal blood flow blockage. Her husband said: "We found a surgeon that had a clinic named after himself.

"He was one of the [top five] surgeons in Turkey." But he said his wife had 'only consented to two' of the three operations she had.

He added: "There was not any risk outlined to her." Mr Dowell said he was concerned about a last-minute change to the length of the operation.

He told the court: "It should have been a six-hour operation but it wound down to one hour 45 [minutes]. The surgeon left halfway through the operation and left the anaesthetist to do the job. You can't do both at the same time."

Mr Dowell added: "They asked me to sign the consent form after she passed away, after the BBL." Mrs Dowell's mother Ann said her daughter 'would not have known the risks' of one of the operations because she did not consent to all three.

A full inquest is due to take place in January. Coroner Nicholas Walker said he would conduct a full investigation into the information Mrs Dowell received and the circumstances of her death.

BHT Clinic said on its website that it had 'the technological infrastructure and equipment available only in Turkey and in a limited number of centres in the world'. The website said: "We have the mission of 'Becoming a World Brand in Health' by applying patient and employee safety in international quality standards based on ethical principles with its medical infrastructure."

No representative from the clinic appeared at the hearing and it was not known if one will be at the next hearing in January. According to medical tourism website Bookimed, BHT Clinic offers a 'Premium Liposuction with Tummy Tuck and BBL All Included' for 8,838 [£7,314].

The Foreign Office website said that at least six Britons died in Turkey in 2023 following medical procedures. In 2022, it was reported that 17 Britons had died in the country since 2019 after medical tourism visits.