UTV reveals the horrors of weight-loss surgery abroad

On UTV Live at six tonight we bring you a special edition of the programme looking at Northern Ireland's fight against the number one public health problem, obesity.

Experts have warned only improving services at home will stop thousands of people flocking abroad for procedures which have the power to change their lives, for better or worse.

One thing that seems to be certain is that regardless of whether a surgery or procedure is deemed a success, it is not a quick fix.

Producer Carol Jordan and UTV Health Reporter Deborah McAleese travelled to Turkey where Shannon Meenan-Brown went to have gastric sleeve surgery in February 2022.

She died 18 months after her procedure.

Shannon left behind four children, a five-year-old boy, seven-year-old twins and a 14-year-old son.

In the programme UTV speak to her family.

We also talk to Pamela Newell who was morbidly obese when she travelled to Turkey to have gastric sleeve surgery.

Pamela says she could not afford to wait five years on an NHS waiting list because her size coupled with her arthritis meant she was in agony.

We also look into the world of cosmetic procedures of the back of the Royal College of Surgeons calling on the General Medical Council to strengthen regulation around surgery, that up to this point has been largely unregulated.

The programme has expert opinion from Mark Taylor, the former chair of the Royal College of Surgeons, on the state of bariatric services in Northern Ireland, as well as advice for those contemplating travelling abroad for any operations.

The special edition of UTV Live airs at 6pm on Friday 13th October.

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