Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Mum, 36, died after she had boob & tummy ops together ‘to save cash’
Blood clot killed beauty therapist
SAD
A MUM who died following breast enlargement and a tummy tuck was advised that having two procedures at once “would be cheaper”, an inquest heard yesterday.
Beauty therapist Louise Harvey, 36, died of a blood clot 18 days after having the operations at a London clinic.
Her mum Linda Harvey, 53, gave evidence that the family had a history of similar problems.
But the inquest heard how mum of three was sent home without blood thinners.
Linda said her daughter wanted a tuck as “she felt she had some loose skin around her belly following the birth of her youngest son”.
She said Louise spoke with someone from Transform clinic and “they suggested having [the two operations] at the same time as it would be cheaper”.
Louise, of Norwich, Norfolk, underwent the two procedures during a three-hour surgery in London on June 17, 2018.
She took a taxi home two days later and was “healing well” when she attended an outpatient appointment on June 26.
But she collapsed on July 3 and started fitting. Linda said: “Her organs were giving up. She had clots in her heart and lungs.” On July 4 she was well enough in hospital to talk and ask if her sons could visit her.
But the following day she died of a bilateral pulmonary embolism, a blood clot that occurs in the lungs. Secondary causes were recorded as the two surgeries.
Louise had attended an hour-long preoperative screening appointment in May.
Nurse Rebecca Greedy said she was told the patient’s sister had suffered a clot during pregnancy and her grandmother died from a clot following lower limb surgery.
But the inquest heard this did not “raise red flags” as Louise had been through three pregnancies and a previous breast enlargement op “without any such issues”.
Consultant plastic surgeon Manish Sinha performed the ops at Transform Riverside Hospital, which has closed. He said he was not aware of Louise’s family history or that a second dose of blood thinner was not administered.
The fact she was having multiple procedures also increased the risks of complications, the hearing in Norwich heard.
The inquest continues.