Patient can’t close eye 3 years after plastic surgery
Private hospital probe into £11,000 treatment
APRIVATE hospital chain is investigating after a patient claimed his £11,000 facial surgery left him unable to close one of his eyes for almost three years.
Pete Broadhurst, 79, from Four Oaks, Sutton Coldfield, underwent corrective surgery in 2019 but said his left eye is still permanently open.
The father-of-two is forced to tape both eyes shut to sleep.
The retired decorator said he was speaking out now to warn others about the dangers of cosmetic surgery.
The surgeon involved in the original operation is currently suspended.
Mr Broadhurst was persuaded to have surgery because he had enlarged cheeks for decades.
The final straw was a stranger on a bus commenting: “My god, what’s happened to your face?”
He said: “I was already feeling down, it just made it worse. Now I’m only worried about getting my eyes comfortable.
“It’s gone beyond how I look. I just want relief. I want to tell others to be careful because it can ruin your life.”
Mr Broadhurst had a class 3 occlusion – when the lower molar teeth sit forward and do not fit the corresponding upper molars – which led to him having enlarged cheeks from his teenage years.
He said: “I had puffy hamster cheeks. Years ago I was in a relationship with a girl and we had two children and she was leaving me.
“I asked why she was leaving when we’ve got everything and she said, ‘go look in the mirror, that’s why I’m leaving’.”
Mr Broadhurst’s insecurities grew and he finally decided he wanted corrective surgery in January 2019.
He approached the BMI Priory Hospital, in Edgbaston, which said it would cost £11,000 to undergo a neck lift, under eye blepharoplasty and a rhinoplasty that would help reduce his cheeks.
He underwent the nine-hour procedure and was discharged the next day.
“I looked like I’d been beaten up,” he said. “It was horrendous, and I couldn’t close my eyes.
“I was sick all through the night and in my sleep. The day after the surgery I wished I’d never gone.”
Mr Broadhurst said he returned to the hospital two weeks after surgery to have his stitches removed and told medics his eyes were very irritated and watering.
But he claimed they told him it was normal and the side-effects would pass by themselves.
He then visited Good Hope Hospital in Sutton Coldfield in March 2019 for a routine prostate exam, but the doctor noticed his damaged eyes and he was referred to Birmingham and Midland Eye Centre.
There, he was told his eyes were still not closing fully when he blinked or slept.
But he said doctors told him they could not treat him as he had the original surgery privately, so he returned to BMI.
His surgeon arranged for a free corrective surgery at BHI Parkside in Bromsgrove for a skin graft to help the siutation.
He had the hour-long surgery on May 13, 2019, but more than two years later could still not fully close his left eye.
He said: “My eyes were distorted, I could barely see at all. She had lifted my left eyelid up and my right eye had a blinker in the corner.
“It never improved again. I was
unable to see and at night I still had to tape it shut.”
Other private hospitals refused to provide any further surgery as it could exacerbate his problems, while the NHS had a year-long waiting list.
Mr Broadhurst said he felt forced to go abroad, which resulted in a £7,000 lower eyelid blepharoplasty at the Clinic Mono in Turkey.
He is due back there later this year for a follow-up procedure.
He said: “My left eye is still open today. Whoever you trust, even a top surgeon, please be careful because it can ruin your life.”
A BMI Healthcare spokesman said: “We can’t comment on the
detail of individual cases, but we are committed to the highest standards of patient safety and care quality and are investigating this matter thoroughly.
“The surgeon in question is currently suspended as we are mirroring an NHS trust suspension.”
The surgeon who performed the surgery at BHI Parkside, declined to comment due to patient confidentiality.
Lindsey Sharp, from BHI Parkside, said: “BHI does not provide healthcare. It provides space to NHS, private consultants and other healthcare professionals to undertake services they are qualified to provide.”
I looked like I’d been beaten up, it was horrendous, and I couldn’t close my eyes.
Pete Broadhurst