Coronation Street to tackle botched cosmetic surgery abroad in new storyline

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Kelly Rissman

US News Reporter

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Coronation Street is about to highlight the rise in botched cosmetic surgeries carried out overseas.

This autumn, Bethany Platt will be left traumatised after receiving a cosmetic liposuction procedure in Turkey that goes disastrously wrong.

Viewers will see Bethany, played by Lucy Fallon, in a critical condition after contracting sepsis as a result of the botched procedure, leading to her living with a permanent stoma.

The storyline comes as the UK has seen a significant rise in patients seeking corrective treatments from botched cosmetic surgeries performed abroad.

In 2023, the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons found that the number of people needing hospital treatment in the UK after getting cosmetic surgery abroad increased by 94 per cent in three years, with procedures in Turkey accounting for more than three quarters.

The storyline sees Bethany accept a job to write an advert for a new cosmetic surgery facility in Turkey, and decides to undergo a liposuction treatment herself.

Daniel, Bethany’s boyfriend, takes a call from the Turkish hospital with the horrifying news that Bethany is in intensive care and rushes to the airport.

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The situation worsens when it transpires that Bethany didn’t declare the surgery on her travel insurance, leaving her family to desperately work out how to raise enough money to get her discharged and given the appropriate care.

The show’s producers chose to feature a character living with a stoma bag as just over 200,000 people in the UK have one.

Coronation Street has been working closely with Colostomy UK to tell Bethany’s story.

Giovanni Cinque, Marketing & Campaigns Manager at Colostomy UK, said: “We’re really excited that one of the UK’s most loved TV shows is going to feature a major character living with a stoma.

“Even though public awareness has grown considerably over the last few years thanks to a number of celebrities revealing they have had surgery, the challenges that the 200,000 plus people living with a stoma in the UK face are less known, which means that we as a society and as individuals are not as aware as we should be of the choices that we can make to positively improve their quality of life.

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“We really hope that Bethany’s journey will go a long way in helping to educate the audience,  and thus help to create a more Stoma Aware UK. It’s also been a pleasure for us to work with the behind-the-scenes teams at Coronation Street on this story.”

Speaking about her forthcoming storyline, Fallon said: “When I first heard about it I was pleased that they have trusted me with it because it’s an important storyline and of course I really enjoy doing issue-based storylines.”

“The storyline is also incredibly important as there are countless horror stories out there of people talking about their experiences of cosmetic surgery abroad. I really hope this storyline can make people rethink going abroad for cosmetic surgery.”

The story will shine a light on the ongoing complications that come with popular surgeries such as liposuction, bum lifts and breast enlargements.

The Independent previously reported that hundreds of UK women have had to seek urgent hospital care after botched surgeries from unregulated practitioners.