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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Chiara Fiorillo

British gran, 54, dies after having Brazilian bum lift and tummy tuck in Turkey

A British grandmother died after travelling to Turkey to undergo a tummy tuck and a Brazilian Bum Lift procedure.

Carol Keenan, 54, died in April last year after visiting a clinic in Istanbul, where she was also offered a third operation - a muscle repair.

Her partner Stevie Anderson and daughter Leonie said Carol was not made aware of the dangers of the procedure when she booked the trip.

The family decided to speak out about how dangerous having cosmetic surgery abroad can be after the recent case of Shannon Bowe, 28, who died while undergoing gastric band surgery in Turkey on April 1.

She was described as "one of the kindest people" and " the life and soul of a party".

Now, Carol's loved ones said the grandmother-of-eight had "a big personality", with her daughter Leonie saying: "They way we would explain her to people is she had fire in her belly but passion in her heart for everyone. She fought for what she thought was right."

Stevie added: "She just cared for everyone, everyone loved her. When she walked in the room she just lit up the room."

Stevie travelled with Carol to Turkey (STV News)

He told STV: "I didn't want her to go but she was adamant she wanted to go and it was going to make her happy.

"To be honest I wasn’t too compos mentis with what was going on as well. I didn’t really know all the facts and the figures. I was quite naïve as well."

Stevie said that after undergoing health checks, Carol was offered a muscle repair for free as doctors said it would improve the success on her tummy tuck.

She did not have to pay for the operation and, according to Stevie, she was not "in the right frame of mind" to process the information and consider any risks involved.

Carol's daughter Leonie Keegan said her mum wanted to change her physical appearance because of unrealistic beauty standards in the media and online (STV News)

Leonie said her mum was a size 10/12 but due to social media standards picturing celebrities with unrealistic beauty standards, she hoped to change her own physical appearance too.

Stevie said Carol was doing well in the days after the surgery but she later collapsed in his arms while entering a taxi.

He explained: "She got dressed up, make-up on, went down the lift, taxi was waiting. Just as she stepped in the taxi, she just said, ‘Oh, Stevie’, and just collapsed in my arms.

"And then, there was nobody about, just screaming for help basically. I raised her legs and stuff but, at first I was worried her surgery and then I thought, ‘Why you worrying about that?’ I knew something was badly wrong. But that was her. She was gone."

Carol was taken by ambulance to the hospital but was pronounced dead shortly after. The family are still waiting for an autopsy to establish the cause of death.

The family now hope that following Carol's and Shannon's deaths, others will consider the risks of cosmetic surgery abroad before deciding to undergo any operations.

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