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Brit mum died in Turkey after being 'offered cut-price bum lift surgery 10 minutes before op'

A coroner today criticised the Turkish clinic for "upselling" British mother Hayley Dowell a Brazilian butt-lift 10 minutes before she was due to have liposuction and a tummy tuck

[ her surgeon left half way through the operation, a coroner ]

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A preliminary hearing was told Hayley Dowell suffered an embolism after undergoing surgery at the BHT Clinic in Istanbul(Image: Facebook)

A British mother died after she was offered a cut-price Brazilian butt-lift in Turkey just 10 minutes before going under the knife, an inquest heard today.

Hayley Dowell, 38, had only visited the clinic in Istanbul to undergo treatment for liposuction and to have a tummy tuck. But minutes before her surgery was due, she was made a last-minute offer from her surgeon for the BBL procedure to enhance her "flat" bottom, it was said.

Her husband, Neil Dowell, today told her inquest that he did not think she had signed a consent form to undergo the BBL prior to her operation. It was heard that the surgeon told Mrs Dowell he could take the fat he was removing during the liposuction and use it to enhance her bottom.

[Hayley Dowell]

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Hayley Dowell went under the knife and had a Brazilian butt-lift [BBL], a tummy tuck, and liposuction in October 2023(Image: FACEBOOK)

Hampshire area coroner Nicholas Walker today criticised the Turkish clinic for "upselling" the procedure and said Mrs Dowell was given a 1,000 "financial incentive" to have a cut-price BBL with only five minutes to consider it before surgery. Pathologists believed Mrs Dowell died from a fat embolism from the liposuction, the inquest at Winchester Coroner's Court, Hants, heard.

Mr Dowell, said that she wanted to have a tummy tuck and 360 liposuction because she had three children and was "very self-conscious of her body". Giving evidence at the inquest, he said: "After three children she wanted a flat stomach, and she was always concerned about the weight, so she wanted to trim herself down a bit."

He described her as a "healthy" and "energetic" person, but she did suffer from asthma. When he was asked why Mrs Dowell, from Eastleigh, Hants., decided to go abroad for the surgery, he said: "I think it was more of a trend and obviously the finance situation.

[BHT CLINIC stanbul]

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Hayley is said to have paid more than 7,000 for the procedures at the BHT Clinic in Istanbul on October 2 2023

"I think so many people do it and it was something Hayley wanted to do. Friends of hers had done it and had told stories about certain procedures, and she just went for it." He said that he did not think it was a good idea for Mrs Dowell to have the surgery in Turkey, but she was "very persistent" and had wanted to go for four to five years prior. He said: "I didn't trust it abroad, I thought it should have been the UK, but she was very persistent. "She wanted that procedure, and she had done her research. She looked at the surgeon in Turkey, and that was good enough for her."

The mother of three had the BBL, a tummy tuck, and liposuction - a package that costs more than 7,000 - after the couple arrived in Turkey on October 1, 2023. She went under the knife at the BHT Clinic in Istanbul on October 2 and died "at around midnight" on October 3.

Mrs Dowell had already undergone two breast augmentations in the UK prior to flying to Turkey, and she was curious about having further surgery. Mr Dowell said that Mrs Dowell found Qunomedical online, who asked for images of Mrs Dowell's body, and then they matched her up with a clinic and surgery in Turkey.

Coroner Mr Walker today said the surgery was much shorter than it would have been in the UK. Mrs Dowell was training to be a dental nurse, it was heard. At Winchester Coroner's Court, Mr Walker gave a conclusion of complications arising of elected cosmetic surgery abroad.

He said: "Hayley wanted liposuction and a tummy tuck and so set about finding somewhere to go forward with this. She researched the decision to go to Turkey largely because it was cheaper and she had that in her mind." He said that the family had questions around the accounts given to the inquest by the surgeon and the anaesthetist in Turkey, but as there is ongoing civil litigation, he could not further go into these details.

He said: "Both families have what seems to me legitimate questions about contradictions of written accounts given compared to the recollections of Mr Dowell and I am sure they would like to know why the operation took much less time than it would have taken here in the UK according to the evidence I have."

Mr Walker said that the surgeon doing the operation, Dr Salih Basat, did not make Mrs Dowell aware of the risks of having a Brazilian butt lift. He said: "[Mrs Dowell] had five minutes to decide what to do and how to pay for it. A significant reduction in price was offered."

Mr Walker said a consent form had been produced to the inquest, although it was many pages long and as Mr Dowell said he never saw his wife sign it, the timelines did not match up. He said that in the UK this kind of "upselling" would never have happened because the surgeon would need consent from the patient and there is a cooling off period of 14 days for them to change their mind.

Mr Walker said that after a postmortem examination in Turkey and then confirmed in the UK, the cause of death was pulmonary fat embolism. He said: "It is clear to me how much you care deeply for her because of how you fought with great dignity to have the questions you have answered for you. I am sorry that I can't answer everything. I am not sure if you understand why I can't answer those questions.

"But I am sorry to the three children who have been left without a mother, and I am sure there is a hole that has been left in their lives." Mr Walker said that he would be making a Prevention of Future Deaths Report that would be addressed to the Secretary of State for Health and the General Medical Council.

He said that he was concerned that patients were not made aware of the risk of procedures before they get on the plane. He said: My concerns are that a UK citizen can travel abroad for surgery without knowing the risks of the procedures before they get on the plane. Secondly that the upselling on procedures combined with a financial incentive, a price reduction, and with limited time, doesnt allow for proper consent that they give to the procedure.

Mr Dowell said that Mrs Dowell had persuaded him to have teeth dentures put in while they were in Turkey. He said that they arrived from the airport and they went to an office to sign a consent for the liposuction and tummy tuck, and blood tests were undertaken.

He said that he did not think she was given the consent form to look at overnight and she only looked at it for around 15 minutes. Mr Dowell said that the next day they were both collected at around 6am and taken to the clinic prior to the surgery.

Mr Dowell said he left at around 10am to get his teeth prepared for the dentures, and then he arrived back at around 2pm before Mrs Dowell's surgery. He said about 10 minutes before Mrs Dowell was due to have her surgery, the surgeon came to talk to them and asked if she wanted him to put some of the fat taken out into her bottom because "it was a little flat".

Mr Dowell said that he thought the surgeon was offering the procedure "off his own back", but then a young woman came round with a card reader to ask for the money. He said they were given a five-minute window to decide on having the BBL procedure.

He said: "She was very embarrassed of her body. We just assumed he was going to use fat from the lipo. She was excited about it. They deducted 1,000 from the procedure because she was already having the other procedure.

"We had five minutes to decide that. We are trying to sort it out. Checking our banks, saying you pay half and I will pay half. It was so quick. We had to make a quick decision. She was going down in 10 minutes after the woman left with the card machine.

"The surgeon never came back in. They came in with anaesthetic to make her a bit drowsy, and they took her away." He said that the BBL should have cost 2,500, but they offered to reduce the price to 1,500, which they agreed to and paid for half each.

Mr Dowell said that he never saw Mrs Dowell sign a consent form for the BBL procedure and he said that doctors at the Turkish clinic did not outline the risks of the procedure to his wife. He said that the doctor had signed the BBL consent form in the morning, but Mrs Dowell had only agreed to the BBL surgery at around 3pm in the afternoon.

Area Coroner for Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton, Nicholas Walker said that Mr Dowell was told four hours into the surgery that it was going well. He said that just before midnight, Mr Dowell was told to go with the medical staff because Mrs Dowell was very "unwell" and had suffered two cardiac arrests.

He was told to say his goodbyes, and she died just after midnight on October 3. Mr Dowell then went to the police station and reported the incident. Mr Walker said that Mrs Dowell suffered a fat embolism - an issue that can arise after surgery and causes a potentially fatal blood flow blockage.

He said that the pathologist's evidence carried out in Turkey and agreed as likely in the UK said that she died from micro fat embolism, which affected her lungs, from the liposuction operation.

He indicated he was looking to produce a prevention of future deaths report. Dr Sophie Chung, CEO of Qunomedical, said they were the "facilitators" of the surgery. She said that they no longer worked with the BHT Clinic and they no longer offer BBL surgeries through their company.

She was asked why the surgeon, Dr Salih Basat, was still listed on the company's website, and she said she was not aware, but it was likely that he had changed clinics. The BHT Clinic declined to give evidence at the inquest.

Mrs Dowell is thought to be one of six Britons who died in Turkey in 2023 following medical procedures that went wrong. The country is popular with Britons for its reduced prices on cosmetic surgery, although it has been the subject of warnings by UK health officials.

A BBL involves increasing the size and shape of a person's bottom by removing fat from one area of the body and transferring it to their buttocks.

Last year the UK Government announced a major crackdown on "wild west" cowboys after the Mirror launched a campaign. The then-Health Secretary Wes Streeting vowed to introduce a raft of new laws to deal with dodgy cosmetic surgery in the UK.

The inquest continues.

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