Australian man Leigh Aiple dies after extreme plastic surgery makeover in Malaysia
LEIGH Aiple travelled overseas and spent $35,000 for plastic surgery. Just days after returning to Australia he was dead.
AUSTRALIANS should really think it over before they make over.
That is the warning issued by the nation’s peak cosmetic surgery body in the wake of the tragic death of a Victorian man who underwent $35,000 worth of procedures overseas.
President of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons Hugh Bartholomeusz warned the seemingly cheaper option of having survey overseas simply wasn’t worth the risk.
Prof Bartholomeusz also said people considering such surgery really needed to weigh up the total cost of recovering at home and receiving an assured higher level of care versus a seemingly “cheap deal”.
He further warned of additional strain on taxpayers if patients returned home and had complications which were then treated in the public system.
His comments come as Victoria’s coroner is investigating the death of Leigh Aiple who spent thousands on marathon procedures in May 2014.
According to Mr Aiple’s family, he spent thousands undergoing the procedures in the hope of transforming his life.
Mr Aiple underwent a tummy tuck, liposuction, an upper eye lift, a chin tuck, lip filler, thigh lift and chest sculpting during a trip to Malaysia in 2014.
However, just days after returning home in May following the back-to-back procedures, the 31-year-old was dead, Fairfax reported.
Speaking of his state when he arrived home his grieving mother Grace Muscat told Fairfax she was left utterly shocked by his appearance post surgery.
“When he came home, there were gaping holes, there was stitching everywhere,” she said.
Mr Aiple underwent the procedures at the Beverly Wilshire Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur, which was arranged by New Zealand-based medical travel agency Gorgeous Getaways.
Ms Muscat claimed her son had complained of leg swelling which his carers didn’t investigate and one had even found him with a 10cm wound which had burst open.
Just two days before he flew home on May 11, he emailed his mother fearing the complications would leave him stranded in Malaysia.
However, despite this he was allowed to fly home and was due to see a doctor the next day.
When he began experiencing chest pain at home, the concerned mother rang an ambulance but he was pronounced dead within the hour.
Prof Bartholomeusz said his death was a tragic case which highlighted the danger of travelling overseas for such procedures.
“Is anything worth risking your life for? I’d say no,” he told news.com.au.
He said Australians who did this often found they were only seen by their surgeon the day before the procedure and in many cases did not have a cooling-off period as they did here.
Assoc Prof Bartholomeusz said there were no also no assurance of the quality of post-operative care and flying home after any surgery posed its own problems including increased risk of deep vein thrombosis.
A coroner found Mr Aiple had died of natural causes: pulmonary thromboembolism associated with deep vein thrombosis and air travel had increased that risk.
Prof Bartholomeusz said there was also the issue of increased strain on the health system when people who had major complications returned home.
While such a cost was hard to gauge he said a recent study on the Gold Coast found 12 patients who had returned home after such surgery and suffered complications had cost the public purse around $150,000.
“That means on average each one of those patients cost the Queensland Government $12,000 each,” he said.
“Often these people can’t afford to have treatment in the private system after paying for previous surgery and are then seen in the public system on a as needs basis.”
Gorgeous Getaways expressed its sympathy at Mr Aiple’s death while a spokeswoman for Beverly Wilshire told Fairfax it was a rare and complicated case which was still under investigation.
RISKY COSTS
Mr Aiple’s death comes months after the Australian Medical Association and Society of Plastic Surgeons issued warnings about the dangers of travelling overseas for such procedures.
In an earlier interview with news.com.au Sydney based plastic surgeon Joseph Rizk said the rise of medical tourism was growing as people wanted value for money.
Dr Risk said people were going to underdeveloped countries for work rather than undergoing the operation in Australia because of how much cheaper it is.
However he also warned of the enormous risk Australians faced such as the quality of post operative care.
“You might get two to four weeks of care overseas but in Australia you would see your plastic surgeon at least four to six times over the following 12 months,” he said.