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A woman has revealed the deadly lengths her sister went to in order to lose weight and gain confidence, which ended up costing her life.
Aimee Hunt, 37, from Northampton, appeared on This Morning show today to talk about her beloved sister Sophie, 34, who died last year.
Speaking to hosts Alison Hammond and Dermot O’Leary, Aimee explained how Sophie was insecure about her body and had been struggling to feel good after attempting to lose weight with diet and exercise.
Aimee said: ‘She told us all she was going to Turkey, she was having this surgery, her words were she was going to come back ‘a million bucks’. That was it. No one was telling her any different.
‘She was a bigger girl, she’d done diets but she loved food. When you love food it’s hard.
Heartbroken Aimee says she was naive to think that nothing would go wrong with the surgery and hopes her sister’s story saves someone’s life
Sophie had tried diets and exercise but couldn’t shift the weight and thought surgery was the answer – this is a photo she sent her family before having the operation
Aimee (L) and her sister Sophie were extremely close so she supported her when she said she wanted to get a tummy tuck and lipo at a clinic in Turkey
‘My mum really didn’t want her to go, she was very worried. We were all worried but I just wanted Sophie to happy and she said she really wanted to do it, so I supported her decision.’
Sophie and her friend Dannielle, who was also going to have surgery, did lots of research into clinics before settling on GNR Aesthetics Clinic.
After paying £3,963 for a tummy tuck and liposuction, the mum-of-two headed out to Istanbul, Turkey in March 2022.
Recalling the moment she received a call from Danielle, Aimee says that up until that point everything had been fine.
She and Sophie had been messaging and she had seemed OK and although Aimee hadn’t heard from her in a bit she assumed she was asleep after the surgery.
Aimee told Alison and Dermot: ‘I had a phone call from her friend and she just said, ‘they’ve told me to call you, you need to come out’.
‘I just knew. Obviously I was panicking, throwing stuff in a bag, looking for the next flight so I could get out there.’
Following the initial chat with Danielle, Aimee says she asked for someone from the hospital telephone her and about 20 mins later someone from the clinic rang.
They wouldn’t tell her any information other than saying Sophie was ‘OK but not alright’.
Aimee assumed that meant there was still hope her sister would be fine and that was what she clung on to.
The following morning Aimee flew out and was picked up from the airport by a car and taken to the hospital.
They took her into a side room and told her that Sophie had experienced a cardiac arrest.
Aimee demanded to see her but was told she couldn’t because of the laws in Turkey surrounding covid and intensive care patients meant she couldn’t go in.
At this point she says she still had hope because she assumed being in intensive care meant Sophie was still alive.
The doctor then explained that they’d given her 90 minutes of CPR, to which Aimee asked if that meant Sophie was braindead.
Told that outcome was a possibility, Aimee was then advised she should prepare for the worst and that all they could do now was pray.
Aimee says she held on to this but when she went back to the hospital 30 minutes later after dropping her bag off, she was immediately told her sister Sophie had died.
She revealed: ‘I said I wanted to see her because I needed to.
‘So I saw her, which was just horrific, and I had a feeling at the time, I can remember vaguely thinking that she didn’t look like someone who had just died.
‘It had been no more than an hour.’
Back in the family room the doctor came back in and held Aimee’s hand before dropping a huge bombshell.
She went on: ‘He held my hand and said ‘I haven’t been completely honest with you. Your sister had already passed away before you got here’.
Stunned, Aimee explained that they thought they it would be better if they waited because she’d had a long journey and was stressed before breaking the bad news to her.
According to The Sun, Sophie’s death certificate states that she died at 9.25am in Turkey — 7.24am UK time — three hours before Aimee even boarded the plane.
Over a year later Aimee and her family are still waiting for answers as to why Sophie died and what exactly what went wrong.
Despite an autopsy being carried out in Turkey there are still no concrete reasons given for her death.
Visibly emotional, Aimee told Dermot and Alison: ‘I think my sister, and me as well, were naive in thinking ‘everything’s going to be fine’. Why think like that? Any surgery involves risk.
‘She wanted that body so badly and now her children haven’t got a mum.
‘I hope [my sister’s story] makes somebody think. You never think it’s going to be you or your family.’
Aimee says her beautiful sister was a ‘foodie’ and struggled to lose weight, believing surgery was the only option
Dermot O’Leary and Alison Hammond were left gobsmacked by Aimee’s heartbreaking story and couldn’t believe that she wasn’t told of her sister’s death until she arrived
Dermot read out a statement from GNR at the end of the interview that read: ‘We’re very sorry for Sophie’s death but not responsible for it. She was shown the necessary care and attention.
‘They are a health tourism agency not authorised to perform surgical procedures and their legally compliant website didn’t suggest they are.
‘Patients signed agency agreements with them and surgical consent form with the hospital GNR contracts to perform surgery. They’re not legally authorised to interfere between hospital and patient and only communicate about hotels and transfers referring patients to doctors for treatments.
‘Complaints Sophie had with the hospital where she had the surgery and had a contract with the hospital.
‘We’ve tried to contact the hospital for a response but not received a reply.’
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