Yahoo News South London mum left begging husband to kill her after beauty facial went horribly wrong
Laura Turner, 44, was a happy and successful mum of three with a 15-year career in project management. Yet, a single choice turned her life upside down and left her body damaged in ways neither she, her family nor many medical professionals saw coming.
Laura invited MyLondon into her home in Morden one Tuesday morning, ready to tell her story after much internal debate. The petite woman curled up on one end of the L-shaped sofa, took a deep breath and started talking.
“As a working mum, life was busy, so I decided to take some time out and go for a facial,” Laura said. “The amount of times I’ve run it around in my head - had I not have gone, this whole chain of events would never, ever have happened. It’s a real sliding doors moment in time.”
Laura went into the Radiance Clinic, which has now been renamed RHealthB, on Kingston Road in Wimbledon on November 3, 2021, for a simple exfoliating facial. When MyLondon visited the salon in May to contact the manager, staff at RHealthB confirmed it was also known as Radiance Clinic, and the same place Laura had attended in 2021.
She was offered a galvanic facial instead, but didn’t have it explained to her that this involved electrical currents to stimulate the skin on the face, Laura alleges. Prior to publication, MyLondon put these claims to RHealthB who at the time of publication have not responded.
'I was left with a burning sensation in my mouth'
Neither did the beautician ask any pre-screening questions beforehand, Laura claims. After just a minute or two, Laura asked her to stop; her teeth “were painful and felt strange," she said.
The beautician only then asked if Laura had braces, and Laura told her she had a metal retainer wire behind her teeth. Laura left soon after and from basic research learned that you shouldn't have this treatment if you have any metal in your body. “I was left with persistent pain in my teeth and a burning sensation in my mouth," Laura said.
Her sleep was broken and she tried a variety of alternative therapy methods to ease the pain. These failed to provide relief, so Laura decided to see a neurologist at St George’s Hospital in Tooting.
The expert diagnosed Laura with "probable electrothermal injuries to her alveolar nerves as a result of the facial treatment" and said that the only way to address the pain was by taking tricyclic antidepressants. Laura said: “I looked at him and said, 'I’m not depressed'. I instinctively had this gut feeling it was the wrong path.”
Laura had reacted badly in the past to previous medications including codeine and the Mirena coil, so was very reluctant to take the medication he had suggested. But the neurologist emphasised that Laura’s neuropathic pain was best treated by the antidepressants, and Laura took her first dose of nortriptyline one Saturday evening.
'I thought I was dying'
“I must have drifted off, but within an hour I woke up and was struggling to breathe. I also had a severe pins and needles sensation throughout my entire body," Laura claimed. “I thought I was dying.”
Her husband Duncan rushed her to A&E, where she underwent a variety of scans which all came back normal. “They said I may have had a reaction, but more than likely I just had a panic attack,” Laura claimed. Yet Laura and Duncan both claimed she had never had a panic attack before, or any other psychological problems.
She was convinced the medication was to blame and refused to take another tablet. Weeks later, she went back to the neurologist for a follow-up appointment.
“I was terrified,” Laura admitted. She alleged that the neurologist criticised her for not following the prescription advice to take amitriptyline instead, which Laura had avoided because of how sedating it was, especially as she had three young children.
She said: “Again, my instinctive feeling was that everything just felt wrong about this, but there was pressure from members of my family, who are very pro-medication and have used it themselves with no adverse effects.”
Laura took the amitriptyline, and within days had stopped being able to sleep completely. “Looking back, this should have been the first warning sign to doctors that something was very wrong,” Laura said. Amitriptyline is a heavily sedating drug, yet Laura developed complete insomnia after taking it. "My ability to function at all in life completely slipped away, I couldn’t leave the house.”
Laura said: “I kept saying to everybody, the medication was to blame. When we went to the doctor, all they would say was it is not possible to have these side effects from the dose that you’re on.”
Severe depression and health anxiety diagnosis
The formerly healthy and happy mum was soon diagnosed with severe depression and health anxiety. She added: “I felt like my head was not my own and nobody would listen to me. I was isolated and alone and terrified. I would lock myself in the bathroom and just couldn’t come out.”
As a result of these diagnoses, Laura was also being prescribed other antidepressants, from mirtazapine to pregabalin, an anticonvulsant used to treat anxiety and neuropathy. These medications were started and stopped within days, according to her doctor’s notes, obtained by Laura in 2023. In just one week, she was prescribed and de-prescribed three different medications.
Laura was placed back on mirtazapine. She spoke to doctors multiple times during this period, and first told a doctor she felt suicidal in April 2022.
However, over the following weeks Laura claims that doctors refused to accept her plea that she had only began to feel suicidal and stopped being able to function since she had started taking the medication, despite warnings of suicide forming part of black box warning signs on the product labels. Duncan also noted a range of physical symptoms in Laura, from visible weight loss to sweating profusely, and the pain in her mouth was still unbearable.
“I remember shutting myself in the kitchen and throwing things in rage. The feeling of inner torment was unbearable. Nobody was listening,” Laura said. Everything Laura was doing was incredibly out of character for her, Duncan added. “There was this extreme agitation and panic all the time.”
Laura begged Duncan 'I just want you to kill me'
Laura was also aware her children, then aged 2, 6, and 8, were watching her rapid decline. “It must have been so frightening for them to witness the change and decline so quickly,” she said. “It was also terrifying for Duncan and my family. I remember very clearly saying to Duncan: 'I just want you to kill me.'"
Laura was still completely unable to sleep, despite having been prescribed a strong sleeping tablet called zopiclone. “It didn’t matter how tired I was. I’d lie down and close my eyes but rest was impossible.”
After numerous crisis calls to support services, a trip to St Helier A&E resulted in a diagnosis of somataform symptom disorder, which implied all Laura’s symptoms were imagined. Laura said: “Through official complaints, it came to light that this diagnosis was made by mental health nurses who did not have the capacity to diagnose or prescribe.”
On June 1, in a haze of delusion she barely remembers, Laura had become convinced her children might have ingested some of her sleeping tablets, despite there being nothing to suggest this as they had no symptoms. She rushed them to her local hospital.
“I stood there and I could see the looks on these people’s faces, and I looked at my children's’ faces," Laura said. "At that point I knew I couldn’t do it any more.”
'I thought I'd never see my children again'
Laura called her husband who was close by, left the children at A&E with the staff and walked back to her car. “I thought I’d never see them again,” she said tearfully.
Laura was later found in Croydon after taking an overdose and having fallen from a building. She had suffered a broken clavicle, ribs and pelvis, and was taken to St George’s Hospital. “I don’t remember being transferred to hospital, presumably because I was unconscious or sedated, but during that journey, I was later told I was arrested on claims that I had attempted to poison my children.”
MyLondon has contacted RHealthB, formerly named Radiance Clinic, in Wimbledon numerous times but has not received a responded.
A spokesperson for St George’s, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Health Group said: “We strive to ensure all patients receive safe and compassionate care, and are very sorry to hear that Mrs Turner was unhappy with her experience in our hospitals. While Mrs Turner has previously raised some of her concerns with us directly, which we responded to, we are here should she wish to discuss or highlight anything further.”
A spokesperson for Laura's GP surgery said they were unable to comment due to patient confidentiality.
The next part of Laura's story will be published tomorrow. Subscribe to get it sent straight to your inbox.
Laura has set up a fundraiser to help fund the treatment she now needs. You can donate here.
Got a story for us? Email anna.willis@reachplc.com.
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