A salon owner's bid to get rid of her 'mum tum' abroad backfired when a 'botched' £3,500 tummy tuck left her with a gaping hole and giant hip-to-hip scar after her stomach became infected. Emma Bestall turned to surgery in Eastern Europe in a bid to banish her 'overhang' and get a flat tummy after having three kids and subsequently losing 4.5 stone.
But the 34-year-old's dreams of a washboard stomach turned to a nightmare when 10 days after returning to the UK she was hospitalised after she discovered an infected hole in her stomach. There, medics had to open Emma's stomach up to flush all the infection out - leaving her with an incision so large that she needed a skin graft from her thigh to cover it.
Salon owner Emma says although partner, Liam Thomas, 37, tries to reassure her, she dislikes her body just as much as before she had the op. The mum-of-three has now shared shocking pictures of the infected open wound and the scar it's left behind as a warning to others looking to have cosmetic surgery abroad.
Emma, from Sleaford, Lincolnshire, said: "I wanted a tummy tuck because I've had three kids and lost four-and-a-half stone and my tummy wasn't very nice. I had an overhang.
"I'd hoped it would shape my body a bit more, I wanted a flat tummy. I was expecting a scar but this one is about two-and-a-half inches wide and it's tight around my stomach.
"I'm not comfortable in my skin and I feel like I'm wrapped in duct tape. I'm struggling with my body, it's horrible. People compliment me and it upsets me because they don't know what it looks like underneath.
"It's not painful but it feels tight and uncomfortable, it's just massive and ugly. I look like I was butchered."
Emma researched the clinic in Eastern Europe for three years before she made the decision to go ahead with the surgery. As soon as she stepped off the plane Emma claims she went straight to the clinic and had surgery soon after - that left her in agonising pain.
Emma said: "As soon as we got off the plane, we went to the clinic and I was in surgery after about two hours so it all felt a bit rushed. I was quite anxious and upset when they were putting me to sleep because I felt so nervous.
"As soon as I woke up, I just couldn't believe what I'd done to myself. I was in that much pain I couldn't walk or go to the toilet.
"I woke up in agony and I was crying my eyes out until they gave me morphine. I didn't look at my stomach for about a week and a half, even when they changed my bandages, I couldn't bear to look at myself."
After being discharged from the Eastern European clinic Emma, who is mum to Harley Connell, 14, Tilly-May Connell, 12, and six-year-old Oakley Thomas, returned to the UK. Emma continued to clean the wound but when she noticed infection seeping through her bandages she rushed to Lincolnshire County A&E where doctors told her it was badly infected.
After being transferred to Nottingham City Hospital, medics had to open Emma's stomach so wide that skin had to be taken from her thigh to cover it. She then underwent VAC (vacuum-assisted closure) therapy to help heal the wound, resulting in a two-and-a-half-inch thick scar.
Emma said: "It looked ok at first but in the space of a week, my tummy started to open up. When I was changing my bandages, I noticed that it was leaking but I've never had surgery before so I thought that was normal.
"I took myself to A&E and I was referred to a plastic surgeon who had to open me back up and put a VAC on it to get all the infection and fluid out. Then I had to go back for a skin graft which was taken from my leg.
"They couldn't close me properly because it's so wide and I still have to drive to Nottingham every other week for a check-up." Six months on from her operation Emma still has check-ups at hospital and is now urging anyone getting cosmetic surgery abroad to do their research thoroughly.
Emma said: "The scar has healed but it's affected my mental health more than I could ever have imagined, I don't like looking at it. My other half reassures me but it doesn't matter what anyone says to me.
"I've been saving up for years and it cost £3,500 which is good compared to other places. If you're thinking of getting any surgery done, please make sure you do your research first."
