Melissa Kerr: Norfolk woman died after surgery in Turkey

Melissa Kerr died at the age of 31 after travelling to Turkey for a 'Brazilian butt lift' procedure - an augmentation of the buttock using a patient's own fat tissue.

The controversial operation is temporarily banned in the United Kingdom, but is still carried out overseas.

An inquest into Miss Kerr's death heard that she died after injected fat entered one of her veins, before moving and blocking her pulmonary artery.

The court heard Miss Kerr, a psychological wellbeing practitioner from Gorleston, had paid £3,200 for the surgery and travelled to Istanbul for the procedure.

But she did so having only been given "limited information regarding the risk and mortality rate" associated with the controversial procedure.

Simon Withey, a consultant plastic surgery who prepared a report for the court, said it was "quite possible" that if the risk were explained "before she was financially committed to proceed, she would not have done".

The court heard Miss Kerr had asked the private Medicana Haznedar hospital four times for photographs of previous patients and admitted being "a bit nervous" but was not provided further information before going ahead with the operation.

The death led Norfolk coroner Jacqueline Lake to call for the UK government to make more information available to people considering so-called 'cosmetic tourism'.

Jacqueline Lake, senior coroner for Norfolk (Image: Newsquest)

Mrs Lake said: "Miss Kerr wasn't seen by a surgeon or clinician prior to the date of her procedure.

"Miss Kerr underwent a limited assessment prior to the procedures.

"Miss Kerr was provided with limited information regarding the risks and mortality rate associated with this procedure."

Mr Withey said the death rates associated with the procedure are "likely to be in excess of one in 4,000".

Mrs Lake added that "certain techniques" used by the surgeons on Miss Kerr "increased the risk of embolism occurring" and that a "high number of patients" had died in similar circumstances. 

She added: "There has been the release of an international alert to surgeons regarding the high mortality rate associated with this procedure.

"There has also been the introduction of a voluntary moratorium on this procedure in the UK. This has clearly not been followed in Turkey.

"I am concerned patients are not being made aware of the risk or the mortality rate associated with such surgery.

"I don't have any authority over hospitals in Turkey and I also appreciate the UK government has no control over what happens in other countries.

"However, the danger our citizens will continue to travel abroad for such procedures continues, though citizens are unaware of the risks involved."

Mrs Lake said she would be writing to health secretary Steve Barclay to urge the government to ramp up public awareness of the private surgery overseas.

She added: "I'm of the view that future deaths can be prevented by way of better information."

Miss Kerr died at the Turkish hospital on November 19, 2019, with her medical cause of death recorded as pulmonary thromboembolism.

Mrs Lake gave a narrative conclusion stating Miss Kerr had died after cosmetic surgery.

Following her death, Miss Kerr's twin sister Natasha started a fundraising page in her memory which raised more than £2,000.

In a statement provided to the BBC following the inquest, her family said they were devastated.

They said: "We hope in the future individuals are given proper consideration before travelling to Turkey for cosmetic tourism."

The inquest comes after similar calls were made by plastic surgeons locally.

Elaine Sassoon, a plastic surgeon based at Spire Hospital in Norwich, has previously urged people to do their research before committing to procedures abroad.