A mother-of-three died after having “frankly barbaric” Brazilian butt lift (BBL) surgery in Turkey, an inquest has heard.
Bolton Coroner John Pollard found Demi Agoglia, 26, died in a hospital in Istanbul on 8 January, three days after the operation, as a result of misadventure contributed to by neglect.
He told the Salford woman’s family he would write to the health secretary to raise concerns about BBL procedures, which see fat taken from elsewhere on the body and injected into the hips and buttocks.
“I do feel something further needs to be done to stop this frankly barbaric medical practice being conducted to such low standards that would certainly not be tolerated in the UK,” he said.
Ms Agoglia’s mother, Christine Tydd, said she had told her daughter she was a “good looking girl” and did not need the operation.
“She was conscious about the way she looked,” she told the inquest. “There was no changing her mind.”
Ms Agoglia’s partner, Bradley Jones, also said he didn’t want her to have the surgery but she had booked the trip through a company called Comfort Zone Surgery months before they travelled to Turkey on 4 January after seeing it advertised by “some celebrity”.
The couple stayed in a shared villa in Istanbul before they were taken by taxi to hospital.
But landscaper Mr Jones said Ms Agoglia was “shaking” and appeared “very, very cold” after the operation.
Comfort Zone staff, who were not medically qualified, were called to the villa and tried to feed pieces of cucumber to Ms Agoglia after she collapsed, the inquest heard.
Pathologist Dr Usha Chandran told the hearing: “I’m really disturbed by Demi’s death and I feel all these cosmetic procedures are given a lot of importance by celebrities… and are being done in shoddy clinics.”
Mr Pollard found the medical cause of death was a microscopic fat embolism in which tissue leaks into the bloodstream.
“I find there was no proper informed consent in this matter, there was no proper pre-operative care and advice, and no proper post-operative care,” he said.
“All of this meant the care in total fell well below the standard expected of this type of treatment and the lack of care contributed significantly to Demi’s death.”
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The coroner said the inquest was “especially” sad “as it involved the death of a young woman with considerable mental health issues who, despite the fact she was pretty and her partner did not think she needed any improvement, insisted on having a BBL surgery”.
“I found that she went to Turkey presumably because the process was quicker and cheaper than the UK,” he said.
“I do find the post-operative care varied from woeful to completely non-existent,” Mr Pollard added.
“When she showed obvious symptoms of serious illness it was not immediately recognised by her partner, understandably, or the unqualified members of staff.
“By the time she got to the hospital it was frankly too late and she was in an irrecoverable state.
“I think it was indicative of the poor level of care that at all times she was transported not in an ambulance but in a taxi, it was always the same taxi.”
Following the inquest, Ms Agoglia’s sister, Chloe, 23, warned people not to go to Turkey for surgery.
“She was so beautiful and just didn’t need any surgery at all,” she said.
“She only went for the sake of her being so down in herself and not feeling good enough.
“Our Dem hasn’t just left her family behind, she’s left the most beautiful little boys.”
