A MUM-of-three who died days after undergoing a “Brazilian butt lift” surgery did not consent to the procedure, an inquest heard.
Demi Agoglia, 26, died in Turkey after a “barbaric” operation contributed to by neglect with “no proper pre-operative care and advice”, a coroner warned.
Demi travelled to Turkey for the operation after seeing celebrity endorsements for Istanbul-based Comfort Zone Surgery on social media.
The mother of three was said to be “conscious about the way she looked” and was insistent on undergoing the procedure, which sees fat taken from elsewhere on the body and injected into the hips and buttocks.
Immediately after the operation she was “shaking” and appeared “very, very cold”, he told Bolton coroner’s court.
Staff from Comfort Zone were called to the villa where she was staying after Demi complained of a tight chest.
They checked her blood pressure, but did not inspect the area of the operation or check her heart rate and pulse, the inquest heard.
Demi then collapsed at the villa and was taken back to a hospital in Istanbul where she died on 8 January, three days after the operation.
The Bolton coroner, John Pollard, ruled that the medical cause of death was a microscopic fat embolism in which tissue leaks into the bloodstream.
Mr Pollard told Demi’s family he would write to Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary.
He said: “I do feel something further needs to be done to stop this frankly barbaric medical practice being conducted to such low standards that would certainly not be tolerated in the UK.”
Concluding that Demi had died as a result of misadventure contributed to by neglect.
He said: “I find there was no proper informed consent in this matter, there was no proper pre-operative care and advice, and no proper post-operative care.
“All of this meant the care in total fell well below the standard expected of this type of treatment and the lack of care contributed significantly to Demi’s death.”
It later emerged that the Comfort Zone staff who were called out to the villa were not qualified nurses.
The inquest also heard that their “completely bizarre” actions included trying to feed Demi pieces of cucumber after she collapsed.
The court heard that Demi had struggled with her mental health and was on medication for ADHD and bipolar disorder.
Her mother, Christine Tydd, said Demi was a “good looking girl” and did not need the operation, shortly before her daughter travelled to Turkey on Jan 4 with her partner, Bradley Jones.
Her partner, Bradley Jones, said he had not wanted Demi to have the surgery.
However, she had booked the trip months earlier after seeing “some celebrity” endorse the procedure online.
Giving expert evidence, Dr Omar Tillo, a Harley Street consultant plastic surgeon, noted the “completely bizarre” actions of the Comfort Zone staff.
He added that the BBL procedure is performed in the UK “within very strict rules to do it safely”.
Dr Tillo agreed with Mr Pollard that it would seem “almost incredible” that the death of a young, physically fit woman was not linked to the BBL operation she underwent.
Dr Usha Chandran, the pathologist who carried out the post-mortem, told the hearing: “I feel all these cosmetic procedures are given a lot of importance by celebrities… and are being done in shoddy clinics.
“I’m really disturbed by Demi’s death and I feel all these cosmetic procedures are given a lot of importance by celebrities… and are being done in shoddy clinics.”
The inquest heard the coroner’s office had sent multiple emails to the Turkish hospital and the surgeons involved to obtain statements but had received no response.
Buttock enlargement surgery – known as a Brazilian bum-lift (BBL) – is used to make the bum look bigger, rounded and lifted.
Surgeons transfer fat, inject filler or insert silicone-filled implants.
It is the fastest growing cosmetic procedure but also one of the most dangerous, according to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS).
Many patients are travelling to the likes of Turkey or seeking out unregistered surgeons in the UK and are not given full information on the risks.
BBLs carry the highest risk of all cosmetic surgeries – with more than one death occurring per 4,000 procedures.
Due to celebrities undergoing such ops, many women are hoping to emulate their looks.
Consultant clinical psychologist Dr Anu Sayal-Bennett, a chartered member of the British Psychological Society, told the BBC: “Despite there being so much about body positivity, there are pressures for women – and men too – to look a certain way.”
Many people travel abroad for the procedure because it is cheaper and advertising is “terribly seductive”, combined with the idea of a beach holiday, added Dr Sayal-Bennett.
Mr Pollard said: “Most inquests are sad by their very nature. This inquest is especially so as it involved the death of a young woman with considerable mental health issues who, despite the fact she was pretty and her partner did not think she needed any improvement, insisted on having a BBL surgery.
“I found that she went to Turkey presumably because the process was quicker and cheaper than the UK. We know little or nothing of the perioperative situation because the Turkish authorities refused to cooperate with the coronial process.
“I do find the post-operative care varied from woeful to completely non-existent. When she showed obvious symptoms of serious illness it was not immediately recognised by her partner, understandably, or the unqualified members of staff.
“By the time she got to the hospital, it was frankly too late, and she was in an irrecoverable state. I think it was indicative of the poor level of care that at all times she was transported not in an ambulance but in a taxi, it was always the same taxi.
“I heard extremely helpful evidence from Dr Tillo who clearly spelt out all the failures and failings he was able to assess from the evidence and the sparse documentation available to him.”
No record of any intensive care unit admission or any tests and scans carried out had been produced, the inquest was told.
