A 65-year-old woman was left with €70,000 ($75,000) in medical bills after discounted botched surgery in Mexico left her "disfigured."
Kimberly McCormick from Washington, underwent successful €12,000 ($13,000) weight-loss surgery at the Mexico Bariatric Centre six years ago and decided to return in October for a breast lift and to remove the loose skin on her arms, thighs, and stomach that stayed after the weight loss.
However, to her horror, she woke up from the surgery with a breast augmentation and a Brazilian Butt Lift that she hadn't requested. "When I woke up my chest was really sore, and I just started bawling," she told NewsNation. She quickly alerted medical staff to ask why she had been given unwanted implants when she was told she had, at some point, asked the doctor for them. "She said, ‘You told him you wanted a full C’, and I said, ‘No, I would never say that, not ever’."
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Kimberly revealed the surgeon also failed to remove the loose skin under her arms and on her thighs and was instead given a Brazilian Butt Lift. She recounted waking up in the hospital and realising something was wrong as one of her lungs partially collapsed while she was under.
"The leg lift, the arm lift, the breast lift, and the tummy tuck, everything was marked out and ready to go," she said, referring to the marks her surgeon had made on the body parts that were supposed to be altered. "I went into surgery at four o'clock in the afternoon. And apparently I didn't come out of surgery until 1.30 in the morning", she added.
The room she was staying in was "filthy" and she was having trouble breathing and soon developed a nasty infection. "I said, 'What happened to my mother?'," said Misty Ann McCormick, Kimberly's daughter. Misty started shouting in the hallway for answers when she claims she was physically pushed out by armed security.
"Inside I’m thinking, my mom’s up there, and I can’t leave her," said Misty Ann. "I get to the door, and he pushes me hard, and there is this cement ramp and I just go flying. I was just afraid I was going to die right there, and she wouldn’t have known," said Kimberly.
Kimberly revealed the weight-loss surgery cost in the US would have cost more than €45,000 ($50,000). However, doctors now believe it will cost her more than €70,000 ($75,000) to repair the damage done in Mexico. She claims she was pressured into paying an extra €2,200 ($2,500) than the pre-paid price because, according to staff, she had stayed longer than anticipated.
"I think I’m lucky that I’m here. I’m lucky the damage isn’t any worse," said Kimberly. "However, I’m looking at another surgery because the implants they put in are so big. I don’t have enough skin to enclose them. They are not healing."
Kimberly is now getting treatment from local doctors after she returned home to King County. She has warned others to stay away from cut-price surgery. "I don’t care how enticing they make the offer, don’t do it," she said. "Because the end result is not going to be something you are happy with."
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