Yahoo News Mum died after Turkey weight loss surgery she 'so desperately wanted'
A mum tragically passed away after travelling to Turkey for £2,000 weight loss surgery she 'so desperately wanted and needed', an inquest heard.
Leanne Leary, 38, suffered a heart attack on the operating table due to an undiagnosed deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Ms Leary was revived and rushed to intensive care, but suffered a second fatal cardiac arrest the following afternoon on Sunday, July 2 last year.
The coroner's court heard that Ms Leary, a mum-of-three, had fallen on the stairs at work and then complained of leg pains after travelling to Istanbul to watch Manchester City play in the Champions League final the month before her death. After returning to the UK, she underwent tests for DVT, but the results were inconclusive.
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Ms Leary, a compliance manager, told her friends she had a 'small blood clot' which didn't require treatment. The court heard that Ms Leary, who also had asthma and pneumonia, initially booked the weight loss surgery for October but moved it forward to July while she was off work sick.
She kept her plans to undergo the £2,000 operation secret from her parents for fear they would try to dissuade her, and she did not discuss it with her GP. The court was read Ms Leary's final text messages to her dad Paul Dermody as she was about to go into surgery on the morning of Saturday, July 1, reports the Liverpool Echo.
She shared: "I didn't want people to try put me off. I need this for me and my health."
In court, Mr Dermody said: "I said I fully support what you are doing, but I want to know where you are every step of the way before and after surgery."
Ms Leary's mother, Kathleen Scott, added: "I would have 100% talked her out of it. You have to think of the kids. But she felt like there was nothing to worry about because she so desperately needed and wanted this operation."
Concerns were sparked when Ms Leary failed to respond to multiple messages the next morning, causing her family to worry. A friend fluent in Turkish reached out to the hospital near Istanbul and found that Ms Leary had suffered a heart attack during the surgery.
Her devastated parents immediately embarked on a journey to Istanbul, where they were greeted by an interpreter. On their arrival at the hospital, they were confronted with the tragic news of Ms Leary's passing.
A post-mortem examination indicated a pulmonary embolism stemming from deep vein thrombosis as the cause of death. Dr Sami Titi, the pathologist, suggested the DVT might have been pre-existing before Ms Leary left the UK.
Mr Dermody voiced his misgivings about the speed at which the surgery was booked and the risks linked to undergoing medical treatments overseas. He also pointed out the apparent failure of the hospital to record emergency contact details for next of kin.
The death of a woman who died following an operation to lift her breasts was caused by a combination of complications from the surgery and underlying medical conditions, an inquest has found. Assistant coroner Catherine McKenna concluded that Ms Leary died as a result of 'recognised complications of an elective surgical procedure combined with underlying medical conditions'.
She added: "This case underlines the importance of transparency when it comes to surgical procedures.
"It is imperative to anyone considering a procedure that, irrespective of how straightforward it may seem, all surgery carries risk. It's so important to discuss any surgery with one's GP and that that surgeons carrying out the procedure are aware of one's medical history."
