New Zealanders are being told to steer clear of getting a nip and tuck overseas, after an Australian man's death.
A Victorian coroner has just released findings into the death of 31-year-old Leigh Aiple, who died after cut-price surgery in Malaysia.
Overweight and self-conscious, Leigh Aiple paid tens of thousands of dollars for a plastic-surgery package in Malaysia.
The trip was organised through Gorgeous Getaways, whose operations are based out of New Zealand.
But less than 24 hours after returning home to Melbourne, Mr Aiple was dead, due to what the coroner says was grossly inadequate care.
"Our family's not as complete as it used to be and we miss him, we miss him dearly," says mother Grace Westworth.
Ms Westworth said her son was left with "gaping holes" in his body, after two marathon surgeries in the space of five days at Beverly Wiltshire Clinic in 2014.
She called for an investigation into the care and treatment her son received.
It found that Mr Aiple had too many surgeries and should have been treated as high risk, because of his weight.
Those findings have prompted our Association of Plastic Surgeons to warn Kiwis that overseas plastic surgery isn't worth the risk.
"If you're going to go overseas, the chances are you could die," says president John Kenealy.
He says cut-price surgeries can end up costing more because of what goes wrong.
Gorgeous Getaways says it's confident in the medical standards in Malaysia and continues to advertise surgery packages with Beverly Wiltshire in Kuala Lumpur.
The company says the facilities it works with meet and, in some cases, exceed international standards.
Newshub.
