A British family is searching for answers after the body of a woman who died during a cosmetic procedure in Turkey was returned home with large parts of her organs missing. According to ITV News, Kaydell Brown, 38, underwent the procedure at Clinic Expert in Istanbul.
Following initial consultation, the facility recommended that Brown undergo a procedure known as “Mummy MOT.” The procedure involves several cosmetic surgeries including a tummy tuck, liposuction and a Brazilian butt lift.
Brown, who spent £5,400 for the procedure and other expenses, made her way to Istanbul with her sister. She went under the knife on March 26, 2024, but she died during the procedure.
“She went in for surgery at about 9.30am and that was the last time I saw her,” Brown’s sister, Leanne, told the news outlet. “I was in the room waiting for her to come back. I’d asked a few times where she was, how long she was going to be and they just kept saying she was coming and then I got a knock on the door. Three people walked in and said, can you come with us please?”
She added: “They took me to a room and they just started trying to say, you know, there’s complications with surgery, you know things can happen. And I said, ‘has my sister died?’ And he just said, ‘I’m sorry, but yeah’.”
Leanne said the news of her sister’s death left her in shock, and it appeared the clinic wanted her to return to the UK expeditiously. She was not also allowed access to her sister’s body before she returned home.
“They just gave me an envelope and said here’s your money back and here’s your sister’s money back. And here’s your flight. It’s like, sorry she’s dead, here’s your plane ticket,” she said. “When you go in and you’re paying, they’re your best friends but when something goes wrong, you’re left to yourself, it’s goodbye.”
Brown’s body was ultimately returned to the UK, but significant parts of her brain, lungs and heart were reported missing when it was examined back home, ITV News reported.
“When they returned her body, they kept pieces of her heart and her intestines and that could show the cause of death, but we might not know because they’re not very cooperative,” Leanne said. “They sent a death certificate saying no cause of death, how can they not find anything?”
Responding to Brown’s death, Clinic Expert told the news outlet that “no evidence of organ trauma was found.” “We have handed the body untouched to the Coroner’s Office (in Turkey),” the clinic added. “It is highly possible parts were removed while trying to determine the cause of death.”
The clinic also responded to a question regarding a review being conducted in the wake of Brown’s death. “An internal investigation found no malpractice and Kaydell’s death was likely caused by fat blocking a blood vessel, which can occur during this type of surgery,” the clinic claimed.
“ClinicExpert has been performing aesthetic surgeries for Turkish and international patients [for] 13 years. It performed slightly over 23,000 aesthetic surgeries. Unfortunately, we lost two aesthetic surgery patients in 13 years. Two is a very big number for us, and for the loved ones of patients. But two over 23,000 is 0.000087 mortality rate. This rate is far below the international averages in most developed countries and most advanced hospitals.”
Brown, per the Foreign Office, is among over 20 British nationals who have died after undergoing cosmetic procedures in Turkey over the last five years. Plastic procedures in Turkey are said to be cheaper compared to UK prices.
Authorities in the UK and Turkey have met to talk about regulations to address the deaths and health complications patients suffer following surgeries in the European nation. Meanwhile, portions of Brown’s body tissue have also been examined again by a pathologist in the UK. Those findings paved the way for an inquest to be opened in the UK. It has, however, been adjourned until 2025.
“Things can’t be hidden anymore and they know what happened now, it’s just gathering that evidence,” Leanne said.
