Spanish cosmetic surgery almost killed mum who ‘woke up screaming’

Josephina was left with a hole in her bum that ‘gushed’ liquid, and suffered a blood clot

A mum almost died after flying to Spain for cosmetic surgery and waking up in the operating theatre before being left with a huge hole in her bum, which ‘gushed’ liquid. Josephina Finch hoped for a ’rounder bum’ so jetted off for the procedure in Spain after hearing horror stories about people’s experiences in Turkey.

The 38-year-old paid around £6,000 for the Brazilian Bum Lift as well as implants, but said she started feeling ill seven days after the ‘painful’ procedure so went back to the clinic. Josephina claims fluid came ‘gushing out’ of an inch-long hole in her bottom when a nurse pushed her bum cheeks together, revealing a hole where the incision was made.

The makeup-artist thought she was going to die after being told her implants were infected and that she had to wait eight more days for the surgeon to be back from holiday to remove them. After the implants were removed, the mum-of-three flew back home only to start having nerve pain in the back of her leg.

Josephina said she went to her doctor and insisted on getting blood thinners as she suspected she had a blood clot. An ultrasound confirmed Josephina’s fears four days later, finding a large blood clot in the back of her leg. The mum regrets her decision and said she now has a ‘bum’ from lifting weights at the gym instead of looking for an ‘instant’ fix.

Josephina, from Canterbury, Kent, said: “I had it in my head that that’s what I wanted to do and there was somebody that was practising safe BBLs. That was my main thing, I thought they could be really dangerous but this looked like it was safer than Turkey.

“I didn’t really have anything wrong with my bum. I just wanted something different, I liked the curvier look so that’s why I did it. I wasn’t insecure, I just wanted to have a bit of a rounder bum, I thought it would look really nice. It would definitely make me more confident.”

Josephina said: “It was a really hard surgery, I felt like I had been hit by a bus. I woke up screaming at some point in the operating theatre. After seven days they took my drains out and it went downhill. I started feeling really unwell, I had extreme pain throughout my body, my bum itself was really painful.

“I felt that it was really not right, I was ill. Everyone thought it was just because I had my bum done. They put me on a drip to hydrate me. The nurse came in and started to push my bum cheeks together and lots of fluid came squirting out of the incision where they put the implants.

“Litres of fluid, it wasn’t just a drip, so much of it gushing out. They said my implants were infected. I thought I was going to die, I thought that was it, I felt so poorly. They said the surgeon is away and he is not back for eight days, so I will have to wait till he is back to take the implants out.

“I thought ‘I can’t live like this’, there’s a huge hole at the top of my bum, where the incision hasn’t closed. It was a good inch and a half.”

Josephina’s partner had to go home while she waited eight days for the surgeon to come back from holiday. Josephina said: “It was a nightmare, it was actual hell. I was in pain, you have to lay down, you can’t stand up.”

The mum became more concerned when she started having ‘sharp’ chest pains a day after taking the blood thinners and drove herself to hospital. Doctors reportedly said the blood clot could be moving to her lung and that she could have died if she had not asked for the blood thinners.

Josephina said the experience left her with health anxiety and guilt over taking the risk as a mum. Josephina said: “I felt really guilty about it, it’s all my fault, I brought this on myself. It’s dangerous anywhere. It was just hell from start to finish. It’s given me bad anxiety, worrying that something else is going to go wrong. It’s not worth it if I’m honest. All just to have a slightly bigger bum.

“I’ll never be the same again, I’ve got three children and I have that guilt forever now for taking that risk. I couldn’t have known but it made me realise I can actually get a bum by going to the gym. I got a PT six months later and now I have a bum, I should have just done that in the first place.

“I tried to take the easy way out and instantly look perfect but actually risked everything. As far as I know it’s gone. It’s given me a bit of health anxiety. They said if I get another blood clot I’ll probably be on blood thinners for the rest of my life.”