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Daily Express, 17 May 2004
Sun, sea and silicone
Now I can be a footballer’s wife
NATASHA TURKINGTON, 27, works for
a vending machine company and lives in Newark, Nottinghamshire. She’s
single and her breasts enlarged from 34B to 34DD on a three-week trip to
Penang.
I want to bag myself a millionaire footballer. That glamorous Footballers’ Wives
stuff is me to aT. I love that lifestyle and I love the game. I’ve
been a Manchester United season ticket holder for eight years. When I hit
30, though, in less than three years, my chances of pulling a footballer
will be almost zilch, so it was a case of now or never for plastic surgery.
My 6-year relationship ended 18 months ago. My boyfriend had never had
a problem with the size of my boobs but I wanted a filler figure. I was
fed up with wearing padded bras.
I had saved for the surgery for years but the lure of clothes and holidays
meant I constantly raided my savings and never reached the £4,000-plus
needed to get them done in this country. My mum’s boob job five years
ago cost £3,500.
When a chance came up to get my boobs done and have an exotic holiday abroad,
all for just £1,000, I couldn’t resist. The only catch was
that I had to be filmed for a Sky One tv show.
I was apprehensive about surgery abroad but my dad said: “If you’re
worried about anything, get the first plane home.” Luckily I didn’t
need to.
I flew to Penang alone and two days later had the operation, so I had little
time to ponder. It took more than two weeks to recover. My mum’s
surgery meant I knew |
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more than most about the procedure but it wasn’t until I met the consultant
the day before the op that I was 100 percent sure I was going through with it.
His easy confidence reassured me.
As I waited to go under the anaesthetic, I suddenly felt like a little girl and
I wanted my mother. I was scared and there wasn’t one familiar face there
to reassure me. Luckily the nurses were great and held my hand as I went under.
The operation took less than 45 minutes but when I came round I could hear a
baby and was convinced it was mine. I was a tad disorientated and emotional and
thought: “Dad will kill me! I came for new boobs and I’ve had a baby!”
After a 6-hour sleep I felt more with it. My boobs felt hard and huge but not
painful. I was desperate to get back to the hotel so I could unwrap them and
have a good look.
My biggest worry was that they would look fake but when I peeled off the bandages
a day later, they looked so natural, so full – perfect! I had two thumbprint-like
bruises at the sides and two incisions, one-and-a-half inches long, below. The
cuts were red at first but now they’re pink and fading.
I spent the rest of my stay chilling with the other girls. We sunbathed, got
our nails done, had massages, went shopping, ate out and had a night on the booze
at a wine bar. It was great fun. We even had a kick-about with the guys from
the Penang football team – but there was not a millionaire among them.
The great thing about having surgery on holiday is that no one need to know.
I told only my family, my boss and my two best mates but word got around. I’m
so delighted with my new boobs that I don’t mind people knowing, but I’ve
had the odd bitchy comment along the lines of, “Why are you strutting around?
You think you’re so amazing getting your boobs done”, in the toilets
at nightclubs.
But I don’t think I’m showing off. I’ve just got an added air
of confidence. At first it felt as if I had two sandbags strapped to my chest
but I’m slowly getting used to carrying more around up top.
I wear strappy tops now and don’t have to work hard to create a cleavage
any more. Now I’ve just got to find myself a David Beckham…”
I’m happy : smaller really is beautiful
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SANDRA SPENCER, 32, is a single
mum who lives with her 15-year-old son in Woodford Green, Essex. She’s
a stunt worker and actress and had her bust reduced from a 36FF to a 36D.
I’ve struggled with huge boobs all my life and I wanted rid of them
for my health, confidence and career.
They put enormous strain on my back and neck, which gave me constant headaches
and back pain. Whenever I had a conversation with anyone they talked to
my boobs, not my face. It made me feel so insignificant and self-conscious.
My chest was also restricting my career. You can’t get leading roles
in action movies carrying so much up top. When I took my stage combat exams,
I had to wear a normal bra and two sports bras to keep my breasts under
control and they still popped out.
I’d been considering surgery for years but it would have cost nearly £4,000
in London and I couldn’t afford that. So when I heard about cheap
surgery abroad I investigated on the Internet and found Beautiful Holidays,
a company specializing in cosmetic surgery in Penang, Malaysia.
My op, with flights and three weeks’ accommodation, cost £2.500.
Suddenly surgery didn’t seem out of my league.
When Sky One asked if they could film me for a documentary series, knocking
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few hundred pounds off the price, I agreed. I thought it would help other women
with big boobs to see what they could do about health.
I was worried about health standards abroad so I asked countless questions and
did more research on the Internet. But the facilities and Malaysian people put
the British system to shame. They were so clean and professional.
I arrived in Penang two days before the op, feeling alone, I’d had surgery
when I was 19 (to remove excess skin and reshape my boobs after pregnancy) so
I was shocked when the surgeons said if I couldn’t explain the exact procedure
used then, there was a 50 per cent risk my nipple would fall off.
He needed to know where the incisions had been made so he could cut in the same
place – cutting elsewhere could kill the glands in my breasts. I made frantic
calls to the hospital and found out the incisions had been made beneath my breasts.
The operation was complicated. It took five hours and they removed 2lbs of flesh
from each boob plus 1.5 litres of fluid.
When I came round, I felt homesick, sore and tearful but also relieved. The first
thing I did was phone my son. I really missed him.
There’s still a remote chance my nipples would fall off. However, I did
weigh up the risks and still thought it was worth doing.
I left hospital 2 days later and spent the rest of my stay relaxing at the hotel.
I had raw scars running from my armpits to the middle of my chest and was worried
about getting sunburned, so I couldn’t show off my new boobs right away.
But I did some serious retail therapy so I could flaunt my new look back home.
I bought eight pairs of shoes, some strappy t-shirts and my first normal bras
in 17 years.
I stayed in the same hotel as the other three girls in the tv show and we had
a meal together every evening, lounged by the pool, shopped, went on a boat trip
and popped in to a wine bar. It was good having other women around but as the
others were having breast enlargements our experiences were somewhat different.
I got on best with Kerry. I think she was having surgery for the right reasons.
The other two, Jo and Natasha, wanted to be the next Jordan and marry a footballer.
They didn’t think the same way as me.
I’ve been home a couple months now and although I still can’t raise
my arms above my head or sleep on my front, my scars are healing.
I love my new boobs. Now when I go for a casting I can concentrate on my performance,
not my breasts. My friends think I look great, although the guys invariably say: ”Why
did you want smaller boobs ?”
Big boobs may be every bloke’s dream but they’re not the ones who
have to live with them.
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