The family of a “bubbly” mother-of-two who died after undergoing cosmetic surgery in Turkey are concerned she was not fit for the procedures, an inquest has heard.
Sophie Hunt, 34, from Northampton, died on 9 March 2022, two days after having a tummy tuck and a Brazilian butt lift (BBL) at the private Nisantasi Hospital in Istanbul.
On Thursday, an inquest into her death at Northampton Coroner’s Court was told Ms Hunt suffered multi-organ failure and died after experiencing cardiac arrest three times.
In a statement read to the court, Ms Hunt’s mother Sandra Hunt said her daughter lost consciousness after the surgery and had swelling in her hands.
Paperwork from the hospital showed “some of her ECG [electrocardiogram] readings indicate an abnormal heartbeat”, Sandra Hunt said, which she has been told was not healthy.
“We believe she was not fit for the surgery,” she added.
She said she also had concerns that there may have been a complication from the BBL procedure if too much fat was injected or removed from Ms Hunt’s body.
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Assistant coroner Sophie Lomas told the inquest that because Ms Hunt died in another country, she “does not have the jurisdiction to fully investigate what happened in that hospital”.
A report provided by Turkey’s Council of Forensic Medicine said: “The individual had no known medical illnesses. She presented to hospital with dissatisfaction of the abdomen and buttocks.”
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It added she had an abdominoplasty, also known as a tummy tuck, and liposuction on 7 March 2022, before she experienced “sudden loss of consciousness”.
Ms Hunt was resuscitated, the inquest heard, but experienced a second cardiac arrest in an ambulance on the way to another hospital, the Avrupa Safak Hospital in Istanbul, which had a specialist cardiac intensive care unit.
Ms Hunt died there later with respiratory failure and organ failure.
The Turkish investigation found Ms Hunt died “as a result of abdominoplasty and liposuction procedures and the complications that developed thereafter”.
A post-mortem examination carried out by consultant histopathologist Professor Kevin West after Ms Hunt’s body was repatriated to the UK, also concluded she died due to complications of the surgery.
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The “exact cause of cardiopulmonary arrest is unclear”, but is likely to be because of the procedures, Mr West said.
The coroner recorded a narrative conclusion which said: “Sophie Hunt died due to complications of a surgical procedure carried out whilst abroad.”
Ms Hunt’s mother said in her written statement that Sophie, who worked as a chef and enjoyed cooking and music, was “outgoing, bubbly and very kind”.
