Woman's 'Botched' Eye Lift in Turkey Leaves Her Looking Like 'a Basset Hound'

With medical tourism to Turkey booming, one woman is warning about how her eye lift left her “disfigured,” costing her thousands to repair

• An Irish woman who traveled to Turkey for an inexpensive eye lift said her lower lids began to droop following the procedure, making her resemble a “Basset hound”

• Anita Brawders returned to the Turkish clinic for a second surgery — but said her lids again began to droop with days

• She said she felt “disfigured,” and avoided family events for a year until a third surgery in Canada helped correct the drooping

As travel to Turkey for cheap surgical procedures soars, a woman from Kilkenny, Ireland, who flew there for an eye lift, says her procedure went awry — leaving her with droopy lower eyelids that made her look like a “Basset hound."

Anita Brawders traveled to Turkey for an eye lift — “a little birthday present to myself” Brawders, who was turning 50 at the time, told Kennedy News and Media via The Daily Mail

“I started researching about six months beforehand and this clinic came up in Turkey. Everything looked good with the clinic,” said Brawders, now 51, adding that she spent €1,000 — about $1,100 — on the procedure.

She’s part of a recent trend of medical tourism, which the Guardian says this year was valued at $47 billion — “and is forecast to be worth more than $111 billion in five years’ time.”

Lured by low prices and short waiting time for procedures, people are flocking abroad — especially to Turkey — for weight-loss surgery, hair restoration treatment, and other cosmetic procedures.

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But the procedures may not always be successful; The Guardian reports that in the past three years, UK residents who have needed medical intervention — including emergency operations — following overseas medical procedures has increased by 94%.

The BBC reports that 28 people have died after traveling to Turkey for elective procedures.

And the U.S. Embassy in Turkey has a section of its website devoted to medical tourism, cautioning travelers that “the quality of health care in Türkiye can vary. People seeking health care in Türkiye should understand that medical systems operate differently from those in the United States and are not subject to the same rules and regulations.”

Significantly, the embassy also cautions that “Your legal options in case of malpractice are very limited in Türkiye.”

Brawders says that when she returned home, “it just didn't seem right. It wasn't healing. I took the plasters off and it didn't look right.”

She reached out to her clinic in Turkey, but says she was told “it was just part of the healing process.”

Brawders said that her lower eyelids began to droop, exposing the pink skin inside and making her resemble a “Basset hound.” She told the outlet that she was brought back to the Turkish clinic for a second surgery — but within a matter of days, her lower lids were drooping again.

Brawders — who underwent the surgery for her 50th birthday — said ”it ruined my 50th.”

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“I didn't have my planned party as I was supposed to.”

“It was devastating. I could see no end to it. I lived with this for a year. I missed out on a lot because of it,' she told Kennedy News and Media, sharing that she skipped family events because she “had no self-esteem.”

“I had weddings that I missed out on. My family were shocked. I felt disfigured and I looked disfigured. I felt like I had been botched.”

'I wouldn't go anywhere but working at my own bar. I felt like I couldn't go out.”

She eventually traveled to Canada for a third surgery to repair her eyes, sharing that with missing work and all the travel, her originally inexpensive eye lift ended up costing €10,000 (nearly $11,000).

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“The surgeon never took responsibility for his actions. They told me every procedure is a risk and you've signed your paperwork,” she said, adding that they offered her £2,000 (about $2,600) — a figure she called “an insult.”

“I haven't heard back from them since. I feel so let down.”

Brawders said she’s speaking out because “I don't want them to do this to anyone else.”

“I regret going to Turkey about my surgery. You're signing things in Turkey, you have no idea what you're signing. It's dangerous.”

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