A WOMAN who flew to Lithuania for cosmetic work to ‘feel younger’ says she has ‘regrets’ after claiming it left her with hearing loss and a crooked mouth.
Angela Paterson, 48, saved for two years and spent more than £8,000 on a facelift, neck lift and upper eyelid surgery in Kaunas, including flights, accommodation and pet sitting costs.
But after the operation she claims she had hearing loss and her mouth looked “crooked”.
And 14 months after her recovery, Angela said she still had scars around her neck, a “bulging eye” from tight stitches and permanent hearing loss in one ear.
She is set to fly to Turkey for revision surgery to fix her neck and eye next month – and says it will cost more than £7,000 for the operation and travel costs.
Angela, from Ayrshire, said: “My confidence level, my mental health has all gone down because of it all.
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“It’s really traumatic. I don’t go out anymore.
“I wanted to do this to feel more confident, to feel younger and better about myself.
“I’m left looking at myself and saying ‘I’m not happy with this.’
“It had a serious impact on my mental health.”
The tattoo artist flew to Kaunas and underwent a facelift, lift and upper eyelid surgery at the Nordesthetics Clinic last September.
Having seen positive reviews of the clinic and having undergone successful surgery in Turkey in the past, he believed he was in good hands.
After the surgery, Angela claimed that she suffered from hearing loss and noticed that her mouth was crooked.
A month later, Angela told the clinic that her recovery was going “well”, but highlighted lumps around her chin and a lip caused by her uneven mouth.
The clinic assured her that the problems were normal in the healing stage.
She also noted the alarm bells of scarring around her neck, a drawn-out eye she says was caused by tight stitches, permanent hearing loss in one ear and visible platysma stripes.
Her crooked mouth has relaxed but is still visible when she speaks.
Six months after the operation, the clinic offered Angela surgery to revise her scars for £600.
But he claims surgeons in the UK and Turkey insisted he had insufficient skin for revision surgery and would instead need Co2 laser treatment costing £3,000.
She made a formal complaint to the clinic in Lithuania in July – but the clinic said it had not provided “any new evidence” to support her claims.
Three months later a revision surgery was offered for £600, but she said she could no longer afford the travel costs by then as her insurance had run out.
Angela said she has sought legal advice but claims British lawyers refused to take up her case as she underwent surgery in Lithuania.
He said: “When you look for medical malpractice abroad, a lot of lawyers turn up, but when you call them and say Lithuania, they say this is outside our jurisdiction.
“Yes, I made the decision to go abroad, I understand that and people will say that this is my decision.
“But the point I have to tell people is that a court will not represent you in Lithuania, but in Turkey.
“I didn’t know that before I came out. [To fight the case] I would need to pay many, many thousands upfront to a Lithuanian lawyer, probably more than the surgery itself.”
A spokesperson for Nordesthetics said: “All patients, including Ms Paterson, are informed of the risks and potential complications before surgery and confirm in writing that they are aware of these risks.
“The post-operative scar is one of the complications that Mrs Paterson was made aware of before the surgery.
“This complication is caused by the body’s response to the surgery and can be affected by different aspects of the patient’s physique that cannot be determined before surgery.”
