A mother-of-three’s attempt to get rid of dark circles for her 50th birthday left her “disfigured” after an operation in Turkey left her with drooping eyelids “like a basset hound”.
Anita Brawders, 51, from Kilkenny, Ireland, paid £830 (€1,000) for a nipple lift in which surgeons made a small incision under the eye and lifted the skin.
But just a few days after returning home, she noticed that the area under her eyes was beginning to droop, exposing her lower eyelid.
The bar manager was forced to return to Türkiye for revision surgery but claims his lower eyelids drooped again within days.
As a result, Brawders said she was too embarrassed to attend family weddings and even her own 50th birthday party.
Anita Brawders, 51, from Kilkenny, Ireland, paid €1,000 (£830) for the operation in which surgeons made a small incision under the eye and lifted the skin.
Now he wants to warn others not to travel to Türkiye for surgery.
Just a few days after returning home, he noticed that the area under his eyes was starting to droop.
‘I was approaching 50 and I just wanted to feel better about myself.
“It was a little birthday gift to me,” Brawders said, recalling why he decided to go ahead with the operation.
He added: “I started researching about six months before and this clinic came up in Türkiye. Everything seemed good with the clinic.
‘After I returned home, it just didn’t feel right. It was not curative. I took the plasters off and it didn’t look good.
‘I started texting my coordinator and they told me it was just part of the healing process.
“Then about three weeks after my surgery, they decided to bring me back and assured me they could fix what had happened.”
However, four days after undergoing surgery again in Türkiye, the skin fell off his right eye.
The bar manager was forced to return to Türkiye for revision surgery but claims his lower eyelids drooped again within days.
The 51-year-old said she was left low on self-esteem when the surgery left her with droopy eyelids like a basset hound.
Brawders has since undergone another successful revision surgery in Canada, but claims he spent more than €10,000 (£8,300) on operations, flights and time off work.
‘It was devastating. I couldn’t see the end of it. I lived with this for a year. I missed a lot because of that. “I didn’t have my party planned like I was supposed to,” he said.
And he added: ‘I had weddings that I missed. My family was shocked. I felt disfigured and looked disfigured. I felt like I was wrong. Ruined my 50.
‘I had no self-esteem. I wouldn’t go anywhere else but work in my own bar. I felt like I couldn’t get out.
“I hated looking in the mirror. You can’t hide it, it’s the first thing you see. I didn’t want to live like that for the rest of my life.
Brawders has since undergone another revision surgery in Canada which was successful, but claims he spent more than £8,300 (€10,000) on operations, flights and time off work.
He claims the clinic offered him just £2,000 in compensation, which he described as “an insult”.
‘I spent money on flights, salaries, my business, taking time off work… it didn’t cover my costs.
‘The surgeon never took responsibility for his actions. They told me that every procedure is a risk and you already signed your paperwork.
“I haven’t heard from them since then. I feel so disappointed. I don’t want them to do this to anyone else.
‘I regret going to Türkiye for my surgery. You are signing things in Türkiye, you have no idea what you are signing. It’s dangerous.’