Botched Turkey Surgery Leaves Kiwi Woman on Feeding Tube for 12 Weeks

A New Zealand woman has been left with life-changing complications after undergoing weight-loss surgery in Turkey — part of a growing trend of Kiwis seeking cheaper medical procedures overseas. Reported by Checkpoint, RNZ

Sheri, who asked that her surname not be used, told RNZ’s Checkpoint that her stomach is still healing months after a gastric sleeve operation went wrong in early August. She now relies on a nasal feeding tube to get nutrients and has spent 12 weeks in hospital recovering.

“I felt myself going into shock… it was a terrible amount of pain,” Sheri said. “By the time I got home, the pain seemed to pass, but the next day it came back even worse.”

Sheri said she chose to travel to Turkey after struggling to access or afford bariatric surgery in New Zealand. “It could cost $30,000 or more here — it’s not user-friendly for people who have to work full time,” she said.

Her surgery was delayed due to high blood pressure, leaving her just days before her return flight. “If I was thinking rationally, I would’ve put safety first and not rushed the surgery,” she admitted. “But I’d already spent so much money.”

Shortly after boarding her flight home, she began to experience extreme pain and was later diagnosed with a gastric sleeve leak. She now lives with limited mobility and depends on her family for support.

Surgeons sound alarm over ‘cut-price’ medical tourism

Waikato bariatric surgeon Dr Rowan French said Sheri’s story is far from unique. He warned that a growing number of New Zealanders are returning from overseas surgeries with serious complications — some near death.

“We’re seeing things like staple line leaks and bowel obstructions from operations done incorrectly,” he told RNZ. “Last week, two patients came straight off the plane into hospital. One was close to death.”

French said sepsis and other post-surgical infections are common, often requiring months of treatment and multiple corrective surgeries that cost New Zealand’s public health system over $100,000 per patient.

He added that some patients are even receiving the wrong surgery. “One woman asked for a gastric bypass and instead had a loop of bowel joined to her sleeve — a completely different operation,” he said.

A costly public burden

Because ACC does not cover overseas medical procedures, French said the burden of treating complications falls on New Zealand’s already stretched public system.

“Many of these patients are low-income and have limited health literacy,” he said. “They’re being drawn in by cheap deals on social media, but it’s unsafe and unsustainable.”

French believes the issue could be reduced if more bariatric surgeries were publicly funded in New Zealand, noting he is currently limited to performing just 50 a year despite high demand.

“At the end of the day, it’s a failure of the system,” he said. “People are being forced to take dangerous risks overseas because they can’t get the care they need here.”