A Greater Manchester woman who forked out £10k on weight loss surgery was left “throwing up lumps of flesh” and was told she could die.
Sofia Alessia, 27, gained weight after and during her first pregnancy and went from size 10 to a size 16. After tipping the scales at 16 stone, she tried the gym after and running but struggled due to ”emotional eating” and decided surgery was her best bet.
While researching online, Sofia, from Littleborough, decided against going to Turkey for cheap surgery after hearing ”horror stories”. She ended up picking a UK based clinic who she claims offered her a £3k discount from the £10k surgery to share her review online.
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Just three weeks later, the mum-of-one went in for the three-hour long gastric sleeve surgery on January 31, 2022. But after coming round from the general anaesthetic, she says felt ”immediately sick”.
Sofia Alessia before weight loss surgery
Over the following days she says she was left ”constantly throwing up lumps of flesh” and unable to keep any fluids or food down. After 24 hours she was discharged home but was only there for three hours before calling 999 and being rushed to Blackburn Hospital.
She was treated there for pneumonia and blood clots in her lungs for three weeks before returning to the private clinic for a gastric bypass.
The clinic believed a bypass would fix the issues as they admitted to removing too much of her stomach during the first procedure. But unfortunately the fix didn’t work – Sofia’s condition went dramatically downhill and she developed sepsis.
Sofia Alessia, 27, with her daughter Alya-Valentina
Four days later, she retuned to NHS care at Worcester Hospital, where surgeons tried to salvage what remained of her stomach.
During this final surgery, doctors were able to remove the staples from her bowels and small intestine, which had caused the deadly infection.
Sofia has now lost a total of seven stone, now weighs nine stone, and is recovering back home with daughter Alya-Valentina, four. The influencer said: “I was always told to never go to Turkey.
Sofia Alessia before weight loss surgery
“But staying in the UK for it nearly killed me anyway. I couldn’t eat or drink for weeks. Everyday was a nightmare that I couldn’t wake up from.
“I was vomiting lumps of flesh every day and night. I do love my glow up, but I wish I didn’t have to go through hell.”
‘I couldn’t stop binge eating’
Before becoming a mum, Sofia ”easily maintained” a size 10 figure but gained weight in 2019, after the birth of her daughter, Alya-Valentina. She began binging on family-sized packets of crisps and a multipacks of Kinder buenos, and soon inflated to a size 16.
Sofia said: “I didn’t know what do. I knew I wasn’t happy for my size, but I couldn’t stop binge eating. I needed help.”
After piling on the pounds, the new mum booked in for weight loss surgery at what she believed to be a reputable clinic on January 31, 2022.
Sofia said: “I was really happy with my original surgeon but they switched them last minute. I was nervous but I had already booked it all and didn’t feel like I could pull out. I just wanted to get started.”
“Lumps of flesh” thrown up by Sofia Alessia
After the procedure to remove a large part of her stomach, leaving just a thin sleeve, she woke to find herself ”uncontrollably vomiting” and feeling extreme dehydration.
She was throwing up thick liquid that looked like “lumps of flesh” but despite her condition she was discharged after just 23 hours.
Sofia Alessia, 27, with her daughter Alya-Valentina, 4, after weight loss surgery
Just two days after the operation, Sofia was admitted to Blackburn Royal Hospital, where she spent three weeks receiving nutrition through a tube due as she couldn’t keep food down.
During this time, Sofia’s mum, Lisanne Meadowcroft, a nurse trainer, 53, looked after Ayla-Valentina while she was in hospital.
The influencer was then moved to Worcester Hospital for further treatment, and was fitted with a feeding tube. The insertion later revealed two blood clots located in each lung.
Sofia Alessia after weight loss surgery
Sofia said: “I hadn’t seen my family in days, and I couldn’t keep anything down. I felt like I was dying, and everything was getting worse.”
Her condition continued to deteriorate, and she developed pneumonia, while doctors discovered that more than 80% of her stomach had been removed causing a stricture.
Communication continued with the clinic as they sent a care package worth of £250 of aftercare products, and arranged to fix the botched surgery themselves, even sending transportation to transfer her back to their premises.
‘They called my mum and said I might die’
On March 21, 2022, Sofia underwent a gastric bypass, but due to the issues with the previous surgery, they were forced to remove ”almost all’ of her stomach.
During the procedure, the surgeon stapled her bowel into her smaller intestine which caused chronic sepsis to quickly develop.
She went straight to Worcester Hospital for further treatment. “I begged a nurse to save my life and begged for other doctors,” she said.
Sofia Alessia, 27, with her daughter Alya-Valentina, 4, after weight loss surgery
“I didn’t think I would ever see my daughter again. I wasn’t getting answers and I felt like I was losing a bit of myself everyday.
“The surgeon called my mum and told her that I might die. My family was distraught. The clinic was talking to me every day over WhatsApp.”
For two weeks after the procedure, Sofia was left in Worcester Hospital completely weak, and unable to even lift her phone.
On March 25, 2022, NHS doctors performed a successful surgery to remove staples from the lower intestine and stomach, and they drained the infection from her body.
Sofia Alessia, 27, with her daughter Alya-Valentina, 4, after weight loss surgery
After weeks in hospital, on April 9 she returned home. Sofia, who now has multiple scars on her stomach, has now lost seven but has been left with an internal hernia which requires another surgery to remove.
Sofia said: “Everyone told me to never go to Turkey for weight loss surgery. But I paid £10k here and I still was left butchered.
“I’m still recovering, but day by day my body is healing. Weight loss surgery isn’t worth the pain.”