Nigerian sues hospital for N521m over wife’s fatal surgery in Turkey

A Nigerian born British, Moyosore Olowo, is suing a Turkish company for £1 million (N521m) over the death of his wife following liposuction treatment.

Liposuction is a surgical procedure that uses a suction technique to remove fat from specific areas of the body, such as the abdomen, hips, thighs, buttocks, arms or neck.

Abimbola Ajoke Bamgbose, a 38-year-old social worker, died in August after buying an overseas package deal with Mono Cosmetic Surgery.

Her husband, Olowo, is blaming the firm and the surgeon responsible, Dr Hakan Aydogan.

He wants £1 million for alleged medical negligence.

Proceedings have been issued in the Turkish courts.

The deceased had travelled to Turkey for the treatment at Mono Cosmetic Surgery Clinic in Izmir, a city on the country’s Aegean coast.

Although she had initially hoped to have surgery in the UK, she looked abroad after finding it was too expensive, Mr Olowo said.

Having compared options, she eventually settled on spending £5,000 in Turkey, with Mono also providing airport transfers and accommodation.

Mr Olowo said Ms Bamgbose began experiencing severe abdominal pain after receiving the treatment.

Four days later, he said, she was seen by another specialist at the hospital and had a second surgery.

At this point, Mr Olowo, who said his wife was his “best friend”, flew to Turkey, where he was told by medical staff at the hospital an error in the initial procedure had led to complications.

After returning home to take care of his family, Mr Olowo then received a WhatsApp call from the surgeon, where he was told his wife had died. The couple, originally from Nigeria, had been together for 15 years.

In the post-mortem examination, the North West Kent Coroner Service found Ms Bamgbose died from peritonitis and multi-organ failure following a complication of the liposuction surgery.

Mr Olowo said his “beautiful” wife had suffered from low self-esteem after giving birth to her three children, Morayo, 13, Eyitayo, 10 and Titilayomi, seven.

Mr Olowo has not been able to return to work as a Network Rail contractor since she died because of childcare commitments.

He said he would advise anyone thinking of having surgery in Turkey to “not go”.

“I am not going to label all medical practitioners in Turkey as below par, but there is the language barrier,” he said.

He said he fears communication issues may have contributed to signs of her complications being missed.   (The Nation)