I paid £5,000 for liposuction to tackle my double chin, but a botched operation left me watching Lord Farquaad from Shrek and almost dying

An influencer who paid £5,000 for liposuction to tackle her double chin has revealed how a botched procedure left her looking like Lord Farquaad from Shrek.

Robyn McManus, 28, from Dublin, Ireland, feared for her life when she developed a hematoma, which caused her face to swell uncontrollably.

The social media star – who has 11,000 Instagram followers – explained how she was bullied as a teenager because of her double chin and it was an insecurity that followed her into adulthood.

She said: 'When I was in my third year of high school, I fell victim to a mass bullying attack where a group of teenagers from a local school sent mass text messages to my phone saying: double chin.

'I then took mock exams and it really had an impact on my mental health and self-confidence.

'I then took mock exams and it really had an impact on my mental health and self-confidence.'

Robyn says that more prominent double chins tend to run in her family and also explained that her polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is another contributing factor.

In January 2023, the social star – who has a total TikTok following of 18,000 – took out a loan to pay €6,000 [£5,100] to undergo liposuction on her chin.

After being admitted to a leading clinic in Ireland, Robyn was put under general anesthesia and underwent Renuvion – a minimally invasive surgery – to tighten the area.

However, Robyn's first surgeon didn't remove enough fat, but the clinic repeatedly told her it was just swelling and she had to be a patient to see results.

In the months that followed, Robyn claims she had “millions of lymphatic drainages” to reduce the “swelling.”

She wrote in a TikTok, “I was told to wait until it healed but I just knew there was still fat and no swelling.”

Robyn started sharing her progress on TikTok – and followers encouraged her to take legal action against the clinic.

After a few months had passed, the clinic then offered to perform another operation for free to achieve the desired effect.

Robyn continues: 'During the operations I felt extremely deflated, I had taken out a loan that I will have to pay back for years and was so discouraged that I still had a double chin after everything.

'I spent a lot of money on massages to reduce the swelling, but to no avail. I also worked very hard to lose weight, but my chin wasn't getting any better.'

A week after her second operation, Robyn was brushing her teeth when she noticed her face was rapidly swelling again and was rushed to Tallaght Hospital A&E.

She recalled, “When I noticed how scared my stepmother was, I started to believe I was going to die. I went from petrified to calm as I began to accept that something was seriously wrong, and that I might not make it.

'I remember saying to myself, 'Don't die sitting in the car, waiting to get through the hospital door, when my stepmother would have to park the car.

'I arrived at A&E and was rushed through triage before being immediately seen by doctors and nurses and sent to radiology for an urgent CT scan.

“They said it was a bleed known as a hematoma.”

After treating the hematoma, Robyn was released from hospital, but the star said the swelling made her look like Lord Farquaad from Shrek.

In her TikTok, she wrote, “Fired home to take care of the clinic and look like Lord Farquaad. So upset and deflated.”

In the weeks that followed, the area also became increasingly bruised and painful – and she dubbed the area 'Helena's hematoma'.

But once she got past this stage, the star said her jaw started to look “swept away” and she finally achieved the results she actually craved.

She added: 'Although this procedure wasn't easy for me, I'm still absolutely thrilled with the results and can't believe my face shape when I look in the mirror.

'It's not perfect because I still have some fat under the muscle, but I wasn't looking for a miracle that I could accept my face.

'My stomach no longer drops when I catch a glimpse of my side profile, so I'm incredibly grateful for that.

'I have lost a significant amount of weight since this surgery, and I really believe the kinlipo has helped because I am starting to love myself and therefore treat my body with more love.

'I suppose I would want to inform people about the risks, there are still risks during my procedure both at home and abroad, but in my case being at home meant I got aftercare and follow-up, something that I might not have had it if I had flown to another country.'