My 50th birthday eye lift failed… and I looked like a basset hound

A mother-of-three’s attempt to get rid of her bags before her 50th birthday left her ‘disfigured’ after an operation in Turkey left her with drooping eyelids ‘like a basset hound’.

Anita Brawders, 51, from Kilkenny, Ireland, paid £830 (€1,000) for a jaw correction in which surgeons made a small incision under the eye and lifted the skin.

But just days after returning home, she noticed that the area under her eyes had begun to droop, exposing her lower eyelid.

The bar manager was forced to return to Turkey for revision surgery, but claims the lower eyelids fell again within a few days.

As a result, Ms Brawders said she felt too embarrassed to attend family weddings and even her own 50th birthday party.

Anita Brawders, 51, from Kilkenny, Ireland, paid €1,000 (£830) for the operation in which surgeons made a small incision under the eye and pulled up the skin

Now she wants to warn others not to travel to Turkey for surgery.

Just days after returning home, she noticed that the area under her eyes had begun to droop

‘I was approaching fifty and just wanted to feel better about myself.

“It was a little birthday present to myself,” Ms Brawders said, recalling why she decided to go ahead with the operation.

She added: ‘I started researching about six months in advance and this clinic came up in Turkey. Everything looked good at the clinic.

“When I got home, it just didn’t seem right. It didn’t heal. I took the bandaids off and it didn’t look good.

“I started texting my coordinator and they said it was just part of the healing process.

‘Then, about three weeks after my surgery, they decided to bring me back and assured me they could fix what had happened.’

However, within four days of going under the knife again in Turkey, the skin of her right eye sagged.

Bar manager was forced to return to Turkey for revision surgery, but claims lower eyelids fell again within a few days

The 51-year-old said she had a loss of self-esteem as the surgery left her with drooping eyelids like a basset hound

Ms Brawders has since undergone further revision surgery in Canada which was successful, but claims she has spent more than €10,000 (£8,300) on surgery, flights and leave

‘It was devastating. I saw no end to it. I lived with this for a year. I missed a lot because of that. “I didn’t have my planned party the way it was supposed to be,” she said.

She added: “I had weddings that I missed. My family was shocked. I felt and looked deformed. I felt like I had been trapped. It ruined my 50th.

‘I had no self-esteem. I wouldn’t go anywhere else but work in my own bar. I felt like I couldn’t go outside.

‘I hated looking at myself in the mirror. You can’t hide it, it’s the first thing you see. I didn’t want to live like this for the rest of my life.’

Ms Brawders has since undergone further revision surgery in Canada, which was successful, but claims she has spent more than £8,300 (€10,000) on surgery, flights and leave.

She claims the clinic only offered her £2,000 in compensation, which she described as ‘an insult’.

‘I was spending money on flights, wages, my business, taking time off – it didn’t even come close to covering my costs.

‘The surgeon never took responsibility for his actions. They told me that every procedure is a risk and that you signed your papers.

‘I haven’t heard from them since. I feel so abandoned. I don’t want them to do this to anyone else.

‘I regret going to Turkey for my operation. You draw things in Turkey, you have no idea what you’re drawing. It’s dangerous.’