'Breast reduction op almost killed me'

by BETH HALE, Daily Mail

When mother- of- three Tracey Todd went into hospital for breast reduction surgery it was intended to boost her self-esteem.

Instead, it left her with misshapen breasts and a lifethreatening infection that caused horrific wounds.

Now Mrs Todd, 39, is suing the surgeon who carried out the £3,000 reduction procedure.

The supermarket assistant's ordeal began last year when her GP referred her to surgeon Brian Gwynn at the Rowley Hall private hospital in Stafford.

Divorcee Mrs Todd, of Cannock, Staffordshire, said: 'I have had very large breasts since I was 16 and I've been unhappy with the way I looked. When I was in school I couldn't play sports and I always had deep ridges in my shoulders where my bra dug in.

'I went to see my GP out of sheer desperation. My breasts were so heavy they were giving me severe back pain.'

She saved for a year for the operation. 'I was so excited,' said Mrs Todd. 'I thought it would give me confidence. I wanted people to look at me rather than at my chest.'

She was told the operation would reduce her from a 38G to a cup size C or D. But she soon realised something was badly wrong. 'My breasts were different sizes and shapes and there were odd lumps of skin under my arms,' she said.

The wounds from the surgery became more painful and failed to heal. 'I was very frightened,' said Mrs Todd. 'I went back to Mr Gwynn and he just said I should expect to lose more blood and sent me away with painkillers.'

In desperation she went to her GP who sent her to another plastic surgeon. She was admitted for immediate surgery and tests showed infections of both staphylococcus aureus and beta haemolytic streptococcus group B, a 'flesh-eating' disorder.

'The surgeon said we caught the infection just in time and I was lucky to be alive,' said Mrs Todd, who spent 11 days in hospital. 'To think that something as simple as a breast reduction operation could have almost killed me is terrifying.'

Mrs Todd will undergo NHS surgery to repair the damage next week, but has been warned she will be left with 'very small' breasts.

Of the first operation last September, she said: 'I know the surgeon is not to blame for the infection, but he should have spotted it afterwards. It was plain something was dreadfully wrong.

'The whole idea was to make me look and feel a lot better. But now I feel like a freak and I look like a freak. I don't like looking in the mirror and I never go out.

'The physical scars are healing but it will take a lot longer for the psychological scars to go.'

Her solicitor Alexandra Taft said: 'This is a frightening example of how a simple operation can leave a patient suffering if done by the wrong person.'

Rowley Hall hospital said that, following a review of Mrs Todd's case, 'Mr Gwynn no longer performs this procedure or other cosmetic surgery at the hospital'.

b.hale@dailymail.co.uk