Large breasts force woman’s drastic action
In a moment of desperation, Sarah Baker made a decision that she instantly regretted, taking a knife to her breasts in an effort to reduce their large size.
Her extreme action came after years of being knocked back by doctors unable or unwilling to grant her a reduction on her size 18H breasts, which had long caused her back pain and mental distress.
‘‘My mind was telling me ‘you should cut them off’ and your mind can be quite powerful especially when you already have self-doubt,’’ Baker said.
She doesn’t remember much of what happened next, other than the arrival of an ambulance and waking up in hospital with a large wound on her right breast.
‘‘It took three hours to fix what I had done.’’
That was two years ago. Now aged 20, with a new baby boy and a much happier outlook on life, she’s determined to have her reduction wish fulfilled so she can close the chapter on the last few years.
With publicly-funded surgery still off the table, Baker has begun looking into private providers, with the Bowen Hospital Charitable Trust appearing to be her best option.
‘‘They’ve said they can do it but it’s going to be very risky because of the scarring on the breast [and] it’s going to cost more than a normal reduction – about $18,000.’’
While there was the possibility of the trust being able to fund the
surgery, Baker has gone the Givealittle route to help crowdfund the surgery in the meantime.
‘‘At this point, I am more than determined to do what I can to prove I deserve this. If this surgery is funded, all the money [raised online] will go to the Bowen Trust.’’
Finances aside, Baker would also have to lose about seven kilograms before the operation could go ahead.
With each breast about the size of a watermelon and weighing just shy of a kilogram, Baker had been forced to sacrifice several pastimes, including softball and sprinting.
‘‘I stopped because I felt so selfconscious . . . I would wear three bras at once just to keep them pushed down.’’
Jonathon Wheeler, the president of the New Zealand Association of Plastic Surgeons, said that back pain, an inability to exercise, as well as the social and psychological effects involved, were all reasons to consider a breast reduction.
He said it was a procedure that came with a raft of risks, however.
‘‘It’s a long operation, about four hours, so it does have risks of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, which can be lifethreatening so it’s something that you want to undertake thoughtfully.’’