Kaydell Brown’s sister Leanne recalled the trauma of discovering her sister had passed away following the surgery, ITV News Correspondent Rachel Townsend reports
Kaydell Brown had just celebrated her 38th birthday. After a tough few years, she had started rebuilding her life and hoped cosmetic surgery would help. Instead, it killed her.
The mother of two from Sheffield made initial enquiries about procedures to Clinic Expert in Istanbul who swiftly suggested a “Mummy MOT” – multiple procedures including a tummy tuck, liposuction and a Brazilian butt lift.
Over several weeks, Kaydell was bombarded with emails, phone calls and WhatsApp messages, illustrating before and after images that Kaydell could achieve. They offered cut-price surgery, flights and a hotel along with further discounts if she signed up for multiple surgeries.
Kaydell worked hard to find the £5,400 needed and travelled to Istanbul with her sister Leanne. She went into theatre on the morning of March 26, 2024 but never came out.
In an exclusive interview with ITV News, Leanne said: “She went in for surgery at about 9.30am and that was the last time I saw her.
I was in the room waiting for her to come back. I’d asked a few times where she was, how long she was going to be and they just kept saying she was coming and then I got a knock on the door.
“Three people walked in and said, can you come with us please?
“They took me to a room and they just started trying to say, you know, there’s complications with surgery, you know things can happen. And I said, ‘has my sister died?’ And he just said, ‘I’m sorry, but yeah’.”
Leanne was in deep shock. The clinic, it seemed wanted to get Leanne home.
“They just gave me an envelope and said here’s your money back and here’s your sister’s money back. And here’s your flight. It’s like, sorry she’s dead, here’s your plane ticket,” she said.
“When you go in and you’re paying, they’re your best friends but when something goes wrong, you’re left to yourself, it’s goodbye.”
Leanne was refused access to Kaydell’s body and a flight back to the UK was hastily arranged by the clinic.
When Kaydell was eventually examined by a coroner in the UK, more devastating news was to come, large parts of her brain, lungs and heart were missing.
“When they returned her body, they kept pieces of her heart and her intestines and that could show the cause of death, but we might not know because they’re not very cooperative,” said Leanne.
“They sent a death certificate saying no cause of death, how can they not find anything?”
ITV News tracked down the team at Clinic Expert who were responsible for Kaydell’s care. Authorities in Turkey rejected our visa applications and so we had to accept a written response.
It said: “No evidence of organ trauma was found. We have handed the body untouched to the Coroner’s Office (in Turkey).”
Clinic Expert adds: “It is highly possible parts were removed while trying to determine the cause of death.”
Kaydell’s surgeon was Dr Sinem Singin.
We found Dr Singin but she refused an interview on camera, but told ITV News that Kaydell’s death was due to known complications associated with the surgery, not medical malpractice.
ITV News discovered that Dr Singin is still performing the same procedures at other clinics in Turkey.
When asked if any review had been carried out as a result of Kaydell’s death, the clinic said: “An internal investigation found no malpractice and Kaydell’s death was likely caused by fat blocking a blood vessel, which can occur during this type of surgery.”
“ClinicExpert has been performing aesthetic surgeries for Turkish and international patients [for] 13 years. “It performed slightly over 23,000 aesthetic surgeries. Unfortunately, we lost two aesthetic surgery patients in 13 years. Two is a very big number for us, and for the loved ones of patients. But two over 23,000 is 0.000087 mortality rate. This rate is far below the international averages in most developed countries and most advanced hospitals.”
According to the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic surgeons the risk of death by fat embolism from Brazilian butt lift surgery is one in 25,000.
Alarmingly, during ITV News’ investigation, we uncovered another patient had died at the following surgery at the clinic – something it didn’t disclose when given the opportunity during an online consultation.
Posing as a potential client, an ITV News undercover reporter held a consultation with a telesales agent.
Clinic Expert operator said: “We are performing this procedure every day, at least six or seven cases every day. Even more than that. But we don’t get it wrong.”
And then, shockingly, he denied there had been any other deaths.
“I can truly say that I never have a face of this kind of serious experience in my entire career.”
Kaydell’s story is not an isolated one. According to the Foreign Office, 28 Britons have died as a result of cosmetic surgery in Turkey since 2019.
Over a million foreigners visit Turkey for medical procedures every year – among them, 150,000 Britons. And the number of British citizens travelling to Turkey is increasing faster than any other nationality.
The obvious draw is cost. Kaydell paid £5,400 for the Mummy MOT at Clinic Expert. In the UK, similar procedures would cost around £15,000, according to Nuffield.
Amid growing concerns about the number of deaths and health complications following surgery abroad, the UK government has previously met with authorities in Turkey to discuss regulations.
ITV News asked the Department of Health and Social Care if it intended to continue those discussions.
A government spokesperson said: “Our sympathies are with the family of Kaydell Brown.
“The UK government has been actively engaging with the Turkish government on how to support the safety of patients who decide they wish to travel to Turkey for medical treatment.”
“We urge anyone considering a cosmetic procedure abroad to research the treatment in question, the qualifications of their clinician and the regulations that apply in the country they are travelling to.”
The UK government confirmed to ITV News that officials are in touch with the Turkish authorities regarding Kaydells’s death.
Since 2018, The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons estimates the NHS has spent almost £5 million on corrective surgery.
A total of 78% of procedures carried out in the UK were on people who’d had original procedures done in Turkey.
Dr Aenone Harper Machin, a plastic surgeon in the UK and a member of BAPRAS, has seen an increase in patients needing corrective procedures and explains how many complications arise in the weeks or months after a patient’s surgery.
“Things like bleeding and blood collection are obviously very immediate in the short term after the surgery,” she said.
“But things like serious infections, sepsis, wound breakdown death of the skin after a tummy tuck where the skin is incredibly tight, those things are only apparent in the days weeks after the surgery.”
Kaydell’s family has heard very little from Clinic Expert since her death. Little contact from a clinic that once bombarded them daily.
They feel angry but most of all, they are grieving for their sister.
“I just miss talking to her. She was loud, she was funny. Anyone who meets her will just say she smiled and she laughed,” says Leanne.
“She was the funny one. She was lovely” adds Siobhan. “She was talented and a good mum to her boys.”
A pathologist in the UK has now re-examined some of Kaydell’s body tissue. His findings have enabled an inquest in the UK to be opened and adjourned until early next year.
“Things can’t be hidden anymore and they know what happened now, it’s just gathering that evidence,” Leanne told us.
At the time of writing, Kaydell’s family has received no cause of death from authorities in Turkey.
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