Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Our gorgeous girl ..taken too soon
» Donna, 30, died in £6k Majorca breast op » Ex-clinic boss held in manslaughter probe
THE family of a young British woman who lost her life while having budget cosmetic surgery abroad have spoken of their grief.
Tragic Donna Butterfield, 30, died after travelling to the Spanish island of Majorca for a £6,000 boob job.
The hairdresser and aspiring model had the operation at Clinica Luz in the capital Palma.
But during the operation she went into cardiac arrest and was rushed to Son Espases University Hospital.
She was in intensive care for almost two weeks before she passed away.
A pal yesterday described well-travelled Donna as “an amazing beautiful person taken too soon”.
Another called her a “beautiful soul” and said she was a “gorgeous girl” whose death “left a hole in everyone’s heart”.
A close family member added: “We’ll never get over it, we just have to learn to live with it.”
Clinic director Mateo Verd Vallespir, 69, should never have been involved in Donna’s surgery.
Vallespir had already been convicted of manslaughter after the death of another woman who had liposuction at another clinic that he used to manage.
Fátima Cherkaoui, 45, died following the operation on March 6, 2017 at Centro Policlínico Quirúrgico in Palma.
The surgeon who operated on Fatima was also convicted of manslaughter and given a oneyear jail sentence.
Judges said their medical negligence led to Fátima’s cardiac arrest and haemorrhaging.
Vallespir was also given a three-year striking-off order in June last year, prohibiting him from working as a health practitioner or running medical clinics.
But three months later, he took part in the operation on Donna, of Wrexham, North Wales, before starting his jail term.
This week he was taken from prison and arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter after a probe sparked by a complaint from Donna’s family.
The surgeon who operated on Donna, who did not live in Spain, has since died.
Mum Lisa Jacques asked friends to pray for her in a heartbreaking message before Donna died.
Following her death, friends and family of Donna, or Donna Bee as she was affectionately known, raised nearly £30,000 to get her back home for her October funeral.
Her sister Jenna said at the time: “The pain we are all going through specially her family has been eased and we could not be more thankful to every donation, share and message received.” Another relative said Donna would go “above and beyond for anyone”. Friend Becky Holt said: “She
didn’t deserve to be taken so young. One of the funniest, wildest, wonderful girls I’ve ever had the pleasure of being pals with.”
Breast surgery is £3,500 to £8,000 in the UK but that often does not include consultations or followup care which can significantly bump up the costs.
Donna’s death is the latest linked to cheap cosmetic surgery abroad with more than 30 British people losing their lives since 2020.
According to the British Association of Aesthetic
Plastic Surgeons, 324 Britons needed treatment or corrective surgery after going under the knife overseas since 2018.
BAAPS said Turkey was the largest source of botched operations as increasing numbers seek to look more like their celebrity idols.
Almost 80% of Britons who needed corrective operations were treated originally in surgical tourism hubs such as Istanbul and Ankara. Other surgical destinations include the Czech Republic and Lithuania, according to BAAPS.
Procedures to treat botched cosmetic operations cost the NHS millions of pounds each year. In January, Morgan Ribeiro, 20, from Anerley, South East London, died after gastric sleeve surgery in Istanbul.
MPS this month heard a call for a ban on health tourism adverts after the “agonising, horrific death” of a 28-year-old British woman in Turkey.
SNP MP John Mcnally spoke out after Shannon Bowe, from Falkirk, Scotland, died in Turkey after gastric band surgery last year.
In September, a coroner issued an alert after Melissa Kerr, 31, from Gorleston, Norfolk, died in Istanbul during a 2019 Brazilian butt lift.
A spokesman for the National Police in Majorca confirmed a 69-year-old man had been arrested for alleged gross negligence manslaughter and breaching a medical ban.
The Clinica Luz was contacted for comment but did not respond. There is no suggestion its current managers have been involved in wrongdoing.