WHEN devastated Emma Chester woke up to discover she’d been stripped naked after a botched boob op in Turkey she thought she would at least receive an apology.
Instead, despite contracting sepsis, being left disfigured for life and needing three emergency operations back in the UK, SHE is the one who is now saying sorry.
The NHS had to come to the rescue after Emma Chester’s £3,590 boob job in Turkey ended in disaster Credit: – Commissioned by The Sun
Emm sent pictures where you could see the haematoma full of pooled blood – but her surgeon wrongly insisted she was fine Credit: Supplied
Emma, 39, paid a third of what she would in the UK for her but has ended up costing the thousands to deal with the bungled procedure.
Today she admits: “I am so, so sorry. I’ve cost the taxpayer so much because of my decision. I can’t apologise enough. I went to get the breast surgery because I felt uncomfortable with my body but I feel worse now. I will always have these scars as a reminder of what a stupid mistake I made.”
After yo-yo dieting all her life and reaching 23 stone Emma first travelled to for a in January 2025 at the Sanamentum Clinic in Izmir, Turkey.
Afterwards she felt amazing.
Emma says: “The hospital was modern and clean, the staff great. It cost just under £4,000. It was painful, which I expected, but I was back at work four weeks later and within months was down from a size 26 to a 16.”
But her breasts shrunk too so she decided on having implants and an uplift.
A friend recommended Gözde International Hospital in Izmir. It cost less than her previous clinic thanks to an offer price of £3,590 including all flights and accommodation. It was a fraction of the average £12,000 UK price tag.
She booked her procedure for 4 November 2025 and flew out with her friend Adelle, who had a liposuction and tummy tuck.
Emma, a community hub worker from Grimsby, Lincs, says: “I wanted to feel more confident, less self conscious, just happier about life.
“But I quickly realised how basic the hospital was. The only people who could speak English were the receptionist and my surgeon, Dr Ufuk Durgun.
“As the porter wheeled me down to surgery he banged the bed into the walls. It was dirty, the bins were overflowing and the theatre was so tiny they bandaged my arm into metal plates at my side to keep me confined. I considered backing out but I didn’t know if I’d get a refund.”
Emma’s troubles were just beginning.
‘Crying out in pain’
She says: “I came around and realised I was naked. I’d been wearing a hospital gown and knickers, boy short type pants, but they were gone.
“The staff forced me up off the surgical bed onto my hospital bed, which was higher, I was groggy. I didn’t ask them about my underwear because the pain was so horrendous I couldn’t think of anything else.
“They put a thin sheet over me and wheeled me back to a private room, knocking into walls and the lift doors again. I was crying out in pain, shivering, freezing, my teeth were chattering. My friend said I’d been in the theatre for four hours. I was told it would take two.
“She begged them to give me pain relief. They put me on an IV drip, we had to what it said and it was saline. I don’t know if there was any pain relief in there but I don’t thnk so as I was still in agony.
“We spoke to a nurse via Google translate the next day and she told me I should be providing my own painkillers.
“They put a support bra on me that was so incredibly tight and gave me ice packs. I’ve since been told by the doctors here they can hinder recovery because they prevent circulation.”
She was heavily bruised but could see her left breast was much bigger than her right, and getting more so every day.
The aftermath of the op led to Emma losing 750ml blood from the haematoma Credit: Supplied
Emma also noticed immediately her left breast was noticeably bigger than her right one Credit: Supplied
Her surgeon said it was normal and she was healing nicely.
She even had a small patch of internal bleeding under her left breast which he said could be a but would likely go away on its own.
Emma, who is a single mum to a 20-year-old son and daughter, 16, says: “The whole seven days were awful. I’d told them I had a gastric band so needed a bland diet but gave me spicy food, saying that was the only option.
“I had to beg just for some water. The nurses were on 24 hour shifts, looking after me and delivering babies on the ward outside.”
I’d warn anybody not to make the same mistake. I was unable to work for months, I lost so much money, my mental health’s been on the floor.
Back in the UK her left breast was still noticeably bigger and the pain continued.
She says: “I messaged the representative who had originally booked me in, sent pictures where you could see the haematoma full of pooled blood. They repeatedly said they’d told the surgeon and he said it was fine.”
Three weeks after getting home, she fell down the stairs and was in so much pain she went to the A&E department at the Princess Diana Hospital in Grimsby. She showed them her breasts.
Emma said: “They put a drain in and said they should have done that in Turkey. I lost around 750ml blood from the haematoma and became delirious. Seeing things, I was deathly pale. A surgeon said he needed to remove that left the next day – or I was going to die.
“He removed it, checked it for any ruptures and sterilised the implant. Then he cleaned out the hematoma and put a drain in before putting the left implant back in.
“It wasn’t an easy procedure but he did this as he could see how upset I was over potentially losing it. I was terrified I’d be disfigured with only one implant in.”
An NHS surgeon saved Emma’s left implant and she had a drainage tube in for eight days Credit: Supplied
Emma was terrified she’d be left terrified from the horror op Credit: Supplied
The haematoma had become infected and she had developed .
Emma says: “He was going to completely remove the left breast as there were so many complications. I begged him to try and save it. Amazingly he managed to.
“He removed it, checked it for any ruptures and sterilised the implant. Then he cleaned out the hematoma and put a drain in before putting the left implant back in.
“It wasn’t an easy procedure but he did this as he could see how upset I was over potentially losing it. I was terrified I’d be disfigured with only one implant in.”
She says: “I was so angry and upset. I’d messaged the Turkish hospital so much and they’d fobbed me off.
“It was disgraceful. I was so relieved to be under the NHS. The surgeon saved my implant and I had a drainage tube in for eight days. If they’d done that when this was spotted in Turkey I may have been ok.
“I messaged Turkey after the NHS surgery and they replied to say they I shouldn’t have even had the operation in the UK as I didn’t need it. They were just hideous, uncaring. To be honest I stopped messaging them then. There was no point.
‘Hideous and uncaring’
“My left breast felt so much better, but days later the incision on my right one got infected. At Christmas I needed a second NHS operation so they could glue over my stitches to stop it leaking puss. It was disgusting.
“When I saw the surgeon for my follow up appointment in January, I knew from his face when he checked it that something bad had happened. He looked so disheartened and said the implant was infected.”
Emma feels ‘guilty’ about going to the NHS for help – but now she’s encouraging others to not make the same mistakes as her Credit: – Commissioned by The Sun
During her third operation the surgeon saved both implants but today, five months on, her breasts are still lopsided.
She says: “I would warn anybody not to make the same mistake as me. I was unable to work for months, lost so much money, my mental health has been on the floor and I’ve gained the weight I lost as I’m so down.
“The NHS never judged me. But everything they did was avoidable. I feel very guilty about that.
“I wish I could afford a solicitor to sue the clinic but I can’t. All I can do is warn other people not to make the same mistake as me.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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