My son died after a botched weight loss surgery in Turkey – I was stunned by how the so-called surgeon tried to explain it

A mother whose son tragically died after botched weight loss surgery in Turkey was stunned by the so-called surgeon’s statement.

Joe Thornley, 25, died after undergoing grueling gastric sleeve surgery in hopes of losing weight from his 22nd frame.

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But the contractor ended up paying a heavy price for his budget operation in Istanbul at Medicana Bahcelievler Clinic.

His devastated mother Julie, 58, has now warned Brits not to travel abroad to seek a quick fix at the hands of botched medics.

Although the clinic “looked like a nice hospital with good reviews,” she suspects Joe wasn’t properly monitored after the surgery.

The 25-year-old had signed up for the £3,000 operation, which involves removing a large part of the stomach, but only told his family about it the day before.

The two-hour process can cost up to £10,000 in the UK and has a rigorous approval process and long waiting list.

Julie told BirminghamLive: “He told me the day before. I told him I can’t stop him, but he doesn’t need to.

“It should go in on Monday and be back home on Friday.”

After the apparently successful operation, her son complained in his last conversation with his parents that he was in “severe pain”.

When Joe didn’t respond for the next two days, the 58-year-old and her husband Michael, 57, assumed he was recovering.

It was only when police showed up at Julie’s work in South Normanton, Derbys, that she learned the devastating news that her son had died.

Julie then received a horror call from the “so-called surgeon” telling her that Joe had suffered a heart attack during the procedure.

The stunned mum tried to manage her grief while coming to terms with the fact there were unforeseen complications.

However, a later autopsy revealed that her son had indeed died after suffering catastrophic internal bleeding at the surgical site.

A death certificate in Turkey had even stated that Joe had died of “natural causes”.

Julie fumed: “The so-called surgeon called me and said he was in cardiac arrest and couldn’t save it. I believed him.

“But when we got his body back, the post-mortem determined that he had bled at the surgical site. He died of internal bleeding.

“It was the aftercare or they didn’t realize he was bleeding.”

She has now warned Brits that the cheap procedures are “not worth it” and advised people to avoid clinics abroad altogether.

The so-called surgeon called me and said he was in cardiac arrest and couldn’t save it. I believed him.

Julia Thornley

The 58-year-old added: “I would advise anyone to be very, very careful about where you go. Or don’t go at all.

“He was a 25-year-old with his whole life ahead of him.

“Now I can’t stop thinking about all the other young people who want to do a butt lift or something with their face.

“I hope anyone who is thinking about this will read our story and not take it lightly.”

Thousands of desperate patients travel to Turkey every year for inexpensive procedures, concerned British medics have said.

Since 2019, 20 Britons have died on medical tourism trips to the country, according to the Foreign Office.

Specialist surgeon Nick Carter said “every hospital” in the UK had to perform emergency surgery on people returning from Turkey with botched results.

He explained: “I’ve had disasters from people who had emergency surgeries a day or two after their procedures in Turkey and they’ve come back with problems.

“I have someone who has a mesh sticking out of their abdomen. A case was presented where surgeons had left dead tissue inside them and they needed emergency surgery.”

Gastric sleeve surgery is one of the three most common types of weight loss surgery.

Medics removed part of the stomach so the patient would not be able to eat as much as before and would feel full faster.

This differs from a gastric band, which is used to shrink the stomach, meaning you feel full after eating a reduced amount of food.

Medicana Bahcelievler’s website describes some of the risks of the procedure, including bleeding, damage to other organs, and anesthetic complications.

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