Mother of tragic weight loss surgery victim says her daughter was 'led like a lamb to slaughter' by

The mother of a tragic weight loss surgery victim says her daughter was ‘led like a lamb to slaughter’ by the clinic who did not even tell her she would have to fly to Turkey until after she’d paid the £2,500 fee. 

Morgan Ribeiro was persuaded to have up to 80 per cent of her stomach removed in Turkey by a slick marketing operation describing the procedure as ‘all natural’.

The 20-year-old childcare worker who died a week after her gastric sleeve operation believed it would be safe as it was organised by a company based in Switzerland called Global Medical Care.

MailOnline has found that the firm is still trying to tempt in new clients with social media descriptions of gastric sleeve surgery in Turkey as an ‘all natural way’ to ‘kickstart your weight loss journey’.

Morgan’s mother Erin Gibson said she was ‘disgusted’ by the marketing which led her daughter to book her £2,500 all-inclusive surgery package, and has accused the company of leading her on ‘like a lamb to the slaughter’.

Morgan Ribeiro’s mother Erin Gibson said she was ‘disgusted’ by the marketing which led her daughter to book her £2,500 all-inclusive surgery package, and has accused the company of leading her on ‘like a lamb to the slaughter 

Morgan Ribeiro was persuaded to have up to 80 per cent of her stomach removed in Turkey by a slick marketing operation describing the procedure as ‘all natural’

The Turkish doctor Dr Serkan Bayil who carried out the operation has since denied wrong-doing and has said he believes that Morgan died after suffering an embolism which is a risk factor in any surgery

In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, she said: ‘She saw that they were in Switzerland and had received loads of awards. That is why she decided to go with them.

‘Morgan thought they had the best reputation, and that she was doing the right thing. It was only when she paid her third and final payment, that she realised she was going to Turkey. By then, she felt committed, so she just rolled with it.

‘She was just a 20-year-old who was blinkered, young and naive. She saw their marketing on TikTok and other channels which makes no mention of the dangers. It is harrowing. It is a marketing lie. It is disgraceful that they can do this.

‘When you click on their website, they only talk about their success stories. They don’t talk about the risks of things going wrong. She got force fed a dream. She was taken in like a lamb led to the slaughter.

‘It is all about money. It’s not about caring for a person who is trying to be a better individual.’

The firm is today continuing to offer ‘special discounts’ to British clients for obesity surgery in Turkey including gastric sleeve operations which involve cutting away a large portion of a patient’s stomach to reduce their appetite

Its website makes no mention of the risks of the controversial procedure and instead simply calls it a ‘a popular weight loss surgery option for those struggling with obesity’.

The company’s TikTok videos showing the weight loss of women before and after obesity surgery, are still online with glowing captions saying: ‘The most natural results are guaranteed with the most experienced doctors.’

Another TikTok post by the company praises gastric sleeve surgery as an alternative to fitting a gastric band where an inflatable silicon ring is placed around a patient’s stomach to restrict its size and their appetite.

The post states: ‘Did you know, unlike gastric banding, the gastric sleeve keeps it all natural. No foreign objects, just a reshaped and reduced stomach size to kickstart your weight loss journey.’

A third Tik Tok caption boasts that the company offers ‘world class medical treatments at affordable prices’ and is ’empowering transformations in health!’

It adds: ‘Over the past year we’ve supported 7,000+ individuals in their journey to wellness through affordable world-class obesity treatments. Join us and discover a healthier happier you!’

In an exclusive interview with MailOnline, Ms Gibson said: ‘She saw that they were in Switzerland and had received loads of awards. That is why she decided to go with them. ‘Morgan thought they had the best reputation, and that she was doing the right thing. It was only when she paid her third and final payment, that she realised she was going to Turkey. By then, she felt committed, so she just rolled with it’

Ms Gibson added: ‘When you click on their website, they only talk about their success stories. They don’t talk about the risks of things going wrong. She got force fed a dream. She was taken in like a lamb led to the slaughter. ‘It is all about money. It’s not about caring for a person who is trying to be a better individua’

Morgan Ribeiro flew to Turkey to undergo a gastric sleeve operation after suffering years of bullying about her weight. Her boyfriend James Brewster (right, with Ms Ribeiro) claims hospital staff did not mention the dangers associated with going under the knife

The hospital where Dr Serkan Bayil is reported to have carried out the surgery on Morgan Ribeiro earlier this month

The firm’s Instagram page which has 19,000 followers boasts that it offers ‘Swiss quality abroad’ while its British website states: ‘We have special discounts for only this month for obesity surgery packages… Choose your package and choose your new life.’

Mother-of-five Ms Gibson is furious that her daughter from south London was give the all-clear by medics in Turkey to fly home just two and a half days after undergoing surgery on January 6, even though she was allegedly claiming that she felt unwell.

Morgan, who was accompanied by her boyfriend Jamie Brewster, 19, and on her first trip abroad, collapsed on her WizzAir flight back to Gatwick on January 9, and the plane had to divert to Belgrade in Serbia for her to receive urgent medical treatment.

She died from organ failure in Belgrade four days later on January 13 after doctors told her mother that her small intestine had been cut during her surgery in Turkey which had caused an infection and sepsis.

However, the Turkish doctor Dr Serkan Bayil who carried out the operation has since denied wrong-doing and has said he believes that Morgan died after suffering an embolism which is a risk factor in any surgery.

Ms Gibson of south London said Morgan initially believed that her operation was going to be in Switzerland due to Global Medical Care being based there, making her think that it would be safer.

The 20-year-old childcare worker who died a week after her gastric sleeve operation believed it would be safe as it was organised by a company based in Switzerland called Global Medical Care

Mother-of-five Ms Gibson said she was now determined to campaign for a Morgan’s Law to clamp down on the marketing of cheap cosmetic surgeries packages in Turkey, particularly those aimed at young people.

She said: ‘I want things to change. My daughter was just 20. She didn’t deserve to die for £2,500. If I can’t stop it, I want to make it incredibly difficult for them to target vulnerable young people who don’t realise what they are getting into.’

Ms Gibson admitted that she had become estranged from her ‘head strong’ daughter in the six months before her death, but said she still loved her and would do anything to protect her.

She told how Morgan had started gaining weight after being bullied at her first secondary school, and had gone on several diets which saw her slim down, only for her to pile on the pounds again.

Without her knowledge, Morgan approached the NHS for help, and was told that she would be suitable for a potential gastric by-pass surgery, but would have to wait two years.

She then began looking into paying for surgery privately, and bought her package from Global Medical Care, without her mother’s knowledge while living with her boyfriend’s family.

Morgan announced her fateful decision in her own TikTok video, saying: ‘My last post before WLS (weight loss surgery). See you on the other side.’

Her mother did not see the post because she had been blocked from her social media.

Instead, she only found out that Morgan was heading to Turkey for surgery when a family member told her that she was already on the plane to Istanbul on January 5.

Ms Gibson said: ‘They were not allowed to tell me anything until she was in the air. I knew she was trying to lose weight, but I was absolutely mortified because of the risks of having surgery in Turkey.

‘I wanted to believe that she would be OK, but I had this sinking feeling that something might go wrong, and it was too late to do anything.’

Ms Gibson said she believed her daughter had headed straight from Istanbul airport to the 45-year-old private Medivita hospital where she was prepared for her surgery the next day.

She described the relatively small white-panelled hospital which is in a side street overlooking a dual carriageway as ‘looking something like a medical clinic from Croydon’.

The Global Medical Care website shows glossy pictures of modern looking hospitals in Turkey which it deals with, but it does not include an image of the Medivita building.

Ms Gibson said her daughter’s package had included one night in a hotel to recover after leaving hospital, but she and her boyfriend instead paid £75 to stay in the hospital for an extra night instead as she was feeling so ill.

She said her daughter told staff when she woke up on January 9 that ‘she did not feel right’ and was ‘burning up with a fever’.

But she said her Turkish surgeon gave her the all-clear to fly home on her WizzAir flight which had already been booked by Global Medical Care, saying her symptoms were normal after surgery.

Ms Gibson added: ‘They forced her to get up and walk around, and drink something. They just thought the best treatment was to get her moving around. It appears like they wanted her out as soon as possible.

Ms Gibson admitted that she had become estranged from her ‘head strong’ daughter in the six months before her death, but said she still loved her and would do anything to protect her

In a last post on TikTok prior to her operation, Morgan told her friends she’d ‘see them on the other side’

‘Her condition worsened when she got on the plane. She was examined by two doctors on the flight and they could see that she was going into sceptic shock due to an infection.

‘They insisted that the plane had to make an emergency landing, and I would love to thank them for what they did.

‘She was found to be seriously ill in Belgrade. Doctors there operated on her and took out a four inch section of her intestine which had been perforated in Turkey, allowing digested food to leak out and cause infection.’

Ms Gibson found out that Morgan had been taken to hospital in Serbia in a desperate text message from her boyfriend, and flew out to Belgrade with his mother after having to ‘beg and borrow’ the money for a flight.

But when they arrived, they were prevented from seeing Morgan as she was deemed to be at risk from airborne bugs due to her body still being ‘opened up’ as doctors battled to flush out her infection.

Ms Gibson said: ‘On the third day, I got information that her kidneys had failed, and she was on dialysis. I just fell to my knees and screamed, “She is not coming back from this. She is going to die.”‘

She said her daughter died at 4am on January 13, with doctors in Serbia telling her they ‘had no doubt’ that her death was caused by her small intestine being perforated during surgery in Turkey.

Ms Gibson added: ‘The Serbian surgeon was horrified. He was a father of two girls and told me that it simply should not have happened. He was absolutely aghast.

‘He said it was the third death so far this year of people having to be dropped off in Serbia on their way home after botched surgery in Turkey. I think the surgeon in Turkey needs to be held accountable’.

But Dr Bayil, 52, who operated on Morgan in Istanbul, told the Mirror last week that Morgan was showing no signs of ‘leakage’ after her operation, and that he believed her death was due to an embolism.

Ms Gibson who is waiting for the results of a British post mortem on her daughter following the repatriation of her body described his claim as ‘preposterous’.

Dr Bayil who qualified in medicine in 1996, and has more than 20 years surgical experience according to online biographies, failed to respond to MailOnline requests for further comment.

Staff at the Medivita hospital also said they were unable to discuss treatment given to any patient due to medical confidentiality rules.

A spokesperson for the hospital confirmed that it allowed surgeons working privately to conduct operations in its theatres, and that its nursing staff provided care to patients before and after surgery.

The spokesperson added: ‘We are a private hospital which is legislated and licensed by the Turkish government. We have been in existence for 45 years and we are very well known. That is why doctors choose us.

‘We have good nurses and technicians. Our object is to give the best services to our patients.’

Ms Gibson said she had spoken to a representative of Global Medical Care following Morgan’s death and had felt ‘insulted’ by their offer to pay for her flight home to Serbia as a goodwill gesture.

She claimed that the representative had initially told her that Morgan may have suffered a thyroid problem before suggesting she had a deep vein thrombosis, and insisting she had signed an agreement, saying that ‘she had known the risks of surgery’.

Ms Gibson said the representative also told her that they had since stopped booking Dr Bayil to carry out operations on clients.

They added that they had only recently started using him and had considered him to be a ‘reputable’ surgeon with many years’ experience.

Global Medical Care has not responded to a MailOnline request for comment.

The company states on its website that it has offices in Geneva and Zurich in Switzerland, as well as London, Dubai and Istanbul where it is based in a building used as a base by several doctors.

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