Young mum left in coma after botched operation in Turkey

A young mum was left in a coma and almost died following a botched gastric sleeve operation in Turkey. Chloe Quick, 23, racked up a medical bill of thousands of pounds after suffering complications following the £1,500 weight-loss surgery.

The NHS worker suffered a bleed and collapsed just hours after undergoing the "nightmare" procedure last Friday (26 April) An endoscopy discovered her spleen had ruptured and she needed vital life-saving emergency surgery.

She was put in a medically induced coma and her family were told there was only a 50/50 chance she would pull through. Fortunately, Chloe, of Hereford, survived and she is now recovering from the horrific ordeal at a private clinic in Istanbul.

Her family and friends are now fundraising in the hope of covering the £5,300 bill for emergency treatment and to get her home. Chloe, a health care assistant at Hereford County Hospital, is currently having to stay in hospital for a longer period as she risks blood clots if she flies too soon.

Her best friend Leah Mattson who has also had gastric sleeve surgery at a different Turkey clinic, set up a GoFundMe page to cover costs. She said: "Chloe has always worried about money and the only thing she was scared of before her surgery was handing over that large amount of money, never did she believe she would nearly not come home.

"I feel sick for her, she just came so close to losing her life and now they are asking for money she doesn't have. Chloe is the last person to ask for help when she needs it, she worked herself to the bone to save this money for the surgery doing extra shifts at the hospital.

"I had this surgery myself and was an inspiration to Chloe to get it done as mine was successful, it breaks my heart and eats me up that hers went wrong." 

Leah said the surgery had originally been deemed a success until later that evening Chloe suffered a sharp pain and blood gushed into her drain. She added: "They had to perform emergency surgery to re-do the sleeve and repair her spleen. They had to put her into a medically induced coma.

"The staff told Chloe's dad that there was a 50/50 chance of her pulling through this and the next 24 hours were crucial. This was life or death for Chloe, her family and close friends have been so worried the last few days not knowing if she was going to make it home to her two-year-old son."

Chloe paid £1,600 for the gastric sleeve operation with a firm she researched two days before she was due to have it done by another company. Leah explained: "She was originally going with another company which cost £2,100 and her surgery was booked for the Saturday (27 April. 

"Two days before flying out the first company told her there has been a mistake because they will not operate on a weekend and it would have to be done Monday (29 April). But her flight was scheduled for Tuesday (30 April) and non-refundable so she began looking up other options.

"She came across one which seemed reputable with 14,000 followers on Instagram, she also spoke to the surgeon directly on WhatsApp which others weren't offering. She was put into a group chat with some other happy patients who had surgery with him too.

"It does sound rushed but she really did do some research. The procedure itself took five hours which is unusual because mine only took 25 minutes.”

She continued: “That should have set off alarm bells but I thought maybe she just needed more time in recovery. But then in the early hours of the following morning she got up to go to the toilet and fainted.

"Her heart rate and breathing was all over the place and they had to perform emergency surgery and put her in an induced coma. They tried claiming the ruptured spleen was as a result of the fall - but I've spoken to people who said a fall would not have caused this.

"It is more likely they have nicked her while doing the sleeve but they are not admitting to this. Now each day she is there, the costs are going up. 

“We don't know how much that will be yet but it's at least £5,300 so far. They even reassured her dad it was going to cost nothing while he waited two days not knowing if she'd survive - but then have hit them with this huge bill.

She added: "I'm also told medical practitioners over there should not be charging for any post-op complications, but they are. Chloe couldn't even talk at first and she's still in a bad way, but she's come off oxygen today which is promising.

"She is just really emotional and overwhelmed by all the support. I don't think it has really hit her yet she nearly died."

More than £1,000 has been raised so far towards a target of £5,000 to help cover Chloe's costs. The family say they do not want to identify the clinic involved as she remains in their care.

To donate to Chloe's fundraiser click here.