A BRIT tourist has died after undergoing a hair transplant in Turkey, sparking a police investigation into the private clinic where the procedure was carried out.
The 38-year-old flew to Istanbul and had the five-hour operation on Monday at the CINIK clinic in the city’s Besiktas district.
GettyA Brit has died after getting a hair transplant in Turkey[/caption]
GettyThe man had flown to Istanbul for the procedure[/caption]
But shortly after the surgery, the tourist became seriously unwell and was rushed to hospital for emergency treatment, according to Turkish outlet OdaTV.
His body was later taken to the Forensic Medicine Institute for an autopsy before being repatriated to the UK.
Police have launched a probe, treating the case as a possible “reckless homicide”.
Staff at the clinic — including the surgeon who performed the hair transplant, the anaesthesiologist and nurses — have already been quizzed by officers, it is understood.
An FCDO spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who died in Turkey and are in contact with the local authorities.”
The tragedy comes amid a boom in “medical tourism” to Turkey, which now accounts for nearly 60 per cent of the global hair transplant market thanks to its cheaper, high-quality procedures.
Turkish Healthcare Travel Council says more than one million people travel to the country each year for hair restoration treatments.
According to Dr. Serkan Aygin Clinic, numbers expected to climb to 1.1 million in 2025, the Daily Mail reports.
It follows the shocking death of 58-year-old British mum Anne Towlson, who passed away last year after a botched cosmetic surgery trip to Istanbul.
Mrs Towlson, from Leicestershire, had flown to Turkey in April 2024 for a pre-planned tummy tuck and liposuction at Green Park Hospital in Pendik.
When she arrived, doctors persuaded her to also undergo an arm tuck in a “last-minute decision”, her inquest heard.
But she quickly developed alarming complications.
The assistant coroner for Rutland and North Leicestershire, Isobel Thistlethwaite, said Mrs Towlson complained her “right arm was hurting” and that her “compression garments were too tight”.
Her right hand was said to have “swelled up like a balloon and was seeping a clear liquid”.
She sent a video to the Istanbul hospital showing her “weeping and swollen” arm — but despite being told it would be shown to a doctor, she never received help.
Meanwhile, a British man was left scarred and with bald patches after a botched hair transplant in Istanbul.
Luke Horsfield, then 26, paid £1,250 for the surgery at the Clinic Center — around half the cost of a UK procedure — but said the results were disastrous.
“I did everything they told me to do as aftercare once I had the operation. But after four months, I saw literally no growth,” the IT technician from Bradford said.
“I was left with scars and bald patches.”
Luke claimed the surgeons barely spoke English and had removed too many follicles from the back of his head, leaving him worse off than before.
Despite the clinic’s promise of “transplant after care”, he said he struggled to get hold of anyone once the operation was over.
After months of disappointment, the clinic eventually offered him a £400 refund — barely a third of what he had paid — and a second procedure at half price.
Luke later had the damage repaired at a Yorkshire clinic.
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