AS more and more Brits flock to Turkey for cut-price weight loss surgery, one family has warned how their son paid for it with his life.
Builder Joe Thornley, 25, from Derbyshire was unhappy with his 22st frame and decided to undergo gruelling gastric sleeve surgery at Medicana Bahcelievler clinic in Istanbul.
Joe, who only booked his appointment weeks before, didn't tell his parents his plan until the day before he flew.
But the £3,000 operation – in which a large part of the stomach is cut away, and can cost up to £10,000 in the UK – went horribly wrong, and Joe died alone in his hospital room the following day.
He is one of seven people to have died after going under the knife at a Turkish clinic, a new BBC3 documentary, Weight Loss Surgery: Getting Thin Abroad, reveals.
Speaking to The Sun, Joe's dad Mick says his son thought the op would be a "quick fix" and never imagined it could go wrong.
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Shockingly his parents were kept in the dark about his death for 24 hours, as staff at the hospital didn't have his next of kin contact details so reached out to British police.
Joe's mum June explains: "He messaged me the day of the surgery to say he was in pain but after that, we didn't hear anything.
"I just thought his phone had died or that he was sleeping."
In the documentary Mick breaks down in tears while discussing their son's death.
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5He recalls how a policeman called at the house and gave them the number for Joe's doctor in Turkey.
"The doctor just said he had low blood pressure. He had a heart attack, cardiac arrest and things like this," Mick explains.
"We just assumed with him being a bigger lad, that his body had failed. It was only when we got him back to England and they did a post mortem on him, that we realised what the Turkish doctor told us was irrelevant.
"It would have nothing to do with that. He died from internal bleeding from the surgery."
After a while, Mick says the doctor stopped responding to their texts about what went wrong.
It was a struggle to get Joe's body home
"It was a struggle to get Joe's body home," he adds. "We had to speak to the British Consulate and then pay the funeral directors in Turkey. It was awful.
"It might be £3,000 to go out there, but if you die it easily comes to £12,000 – £15,000 when you factor in getting the body back, and a funeral."
Joe's friends Megan and Callum, who both appear in the documentary, were devastated by his death.
Callum says: "He wasn't just someone's best friend, he was everyone's best friend."
The pair, who lived with Joe for six months during a season in Ibiza,admit they were surprised by his decision, as he had never spoken openly about being bothered by his weight.
Neither wanted him to go, as they were worried about the risks of having the surgery abroad.
But Megan says Joe was insistent that he was unhappy with his weight andhaving the operation would enable him to lose it.
Callum was messaging Joe when he headed out to Turkey, but after the operation he was surprised when he stopped replying.
Death 'kept secret'
Joe's parents opted not to tell his friends about his death until after Christmas, for fear of ruining people's festive seasons.
Mick says he wants to spread awareness about the risks of travelling to Turkey for surgery.
"The aftercare isn't the same. If something goes wrong, they'll just turn their back on you," he says.
June adds: "When you're young, you think you're invincible. But you're not.
"No one thinks they're going to die, but getting surgery might kill you.
"I hope people will really think about it before going out there. I wouldn't wish what we've gone through on anyone."
No one thinks they're going to die, but getting surgery might kill you
The documentary also reveals some clinics in Turkey use stock images alongside glowing reviews, calling into question how legitimate they are.
When presenter Alex Hollywell-Rolfe inquired at a centre, it took a matter of minutes for her to be offered an appointment to undergo the invasive surgery.
Alex had a gastric sleeve operation on the NHS and has been sharing her journey on social media ever since.
The NHS has been performing fewer weight loss surgeries since Covid, with some patients on waiting lists for years.
Speaking to The Sun, Alex says: "It shocked me how little wait time there is to have the surgery in Turkey.
"In the UK, when I had my op, you have to go through a process. There is nothing similar if you go abroad.
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"It makes me worry that people don't have a proper understanding of what they're putting themselves through."
Weight Loss Surgery: Getting Thin Abroad airs tonight at 9pm on BBC Three.
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