My husband bought me a new body for £10k at Turkish clinic – now my belly’s gone we can’t keep our hands off each other
COMING round from surgery, Vikki Doherty looked at her husband and said two words: “Thank you.”
Donal, 40, had forked out more than £10,000 for 45-year-old Vikki’s body transformation in Turkey — including a gastric sleeve, boob job and tummy tuck.
At 5ft 4in and a size 22, Vikki had spent years feeling miserable about her size.
Gorging on up to three takeaways a week, she tipped the scales at 17st.
“I’d got to the stage where I felt disgusting,” says Vikki, who lives with Donal, and their sons, Caelan, 12, and Cuyler, eight, in Caterham, Surrey.
“Being overweight was affecting my mood, how I was with Donal, and our sex life. But I found myself caught in a vicious cycle of eating bad foods for comfort.”
Vikki met Donal 16 years ago at a Butlin’s weekend away in Bognor Regis, when she weighed around 15st and was a size 20.
“It was like he didn’t see the big me,” says Vikki, who wed Donal in 2015. “I felt confident with him and he made me feel good.
Blubber belly was gone
“We went on to have two gorgeous children and I managed to lose 2st for the wedding by doing Slimming World. But after that my weight just went up and down. Diets never worked.”
Vikki and Donal, who owns a roofing company, would spend around £100 a week on takeaways, on top of their £150 food shop.
Vikki says: “It was a lot calorie-wise and financially — and even Donal started to pile on the pounds.
“I wouldn’t think twice about having a fry-up for breakfast, McDonald’s for lunch and then getting home and ordering a takeaway.
“I’d act confident, but at home I was depressed. I started to hate myself and it caused friction between me and Donal.”
At the age of 40, Vikki hit 16st and started experiencing perimenopause symptoms, which made her anxiety soar.
“I wasn’t happy,” says Vikki, who owns a lash and nail business. “My back and knees were shot to pieces from carrying the extra weight around.
“I’d even struggle getting in through people’s front doors — it was horrible.
“Then I started to get symptoms of perimenopause, like night sweats, night terrors and severe anxiety.
“My doctor lectured me about my cholesterol levels being too high, but the diets I’d tried had all failed and I found it hard to exercise.
“Every day I was going out and putting a face on, but it wasn’t enough any more. I lost all confidence — even in the bedroom.
“Donal was fed up because he didn’t understand how I was feeling.
“We were arguing all the time and our sex life wasn’t great because we weren’t being nice to each other. We were just plodding along for the kids.”
Then, in December 2021, Vikki noticed one of her clients had slimmed dramatically after undergoing gastric sleeve surgery in Turkey.
In the UK, patients need a BMI of 40 or more and a serious medical condition, such as type 2 diabetes or high blood pressure, to be eligible for the surgery on the NHS, which meant Vikki didn’t qualify.
And while it costs around £15,000 to have the surgery privately in the UK, in Turkey it’s just £3,500.
Vikki says: “I mentioned it to Donal and he said I should go for it.
“Then I’d put it off for a couple of weeks, get annoyed with my weight again, and Donal would say, ‘The money’s there, babe, come on, let’s do it’.
“So I got the details from my client and within a fortnight they had me booked in.”
In April last year, Vikki flew to Turkey alone, leaving the kids and Donal at home, and went under the knife with a company called Lighter Life in Izmir.
Surgeons removed 80 per cent of her stomach.
Vikki says: “When I came round, I had these tiny little holes in my body from where they removed my stomach.
“The second day was the worst. I felt dreadful, in pain, and questioned if I’d made the right decision.
“But by the third day I felt a lot better. I went back to my hotel and stayed there for two days, while they continued to check on me and make sure I was OK.
“Even then, I felt like this big black cloud was no longer over me. I was excited about how I was going to look and how much better I was going to feel.
“I had to follow a liquid diet for three weeks, followed by puréed foods and then soft foods. I was back at work two weeks later, by which time I’d lost 1.5st.
“My mood had lifted and I caught myself smiling and whistling for the first time in what felt like decades.
“Donal and I were on great form again, too. Having sex was amazing without my belly being in the way.”
Within ten months, Vikki’s weight had dropped to 10st 8lb.
But 8lb of excess skin and drooping boobs were holding her back from reaching a “normal” BMI and her goal weight of 10st. In March this year, Vikki decided to go back to Turkey with Donal, who paid a further £7,000 for her tummy tuck and breast uplift with implants.
She says: “Donal loved how I looked as much as I did, so he paid for the second procedure.
“During a 12-hour operation, I had the skin removed and my boobs reduced with implants, which took me from a G cup to D.
“As soon as I had the surgery I was just under 10st, which made me want to cry. I’d gone to sleep with a blubber belly and woke up with it gone.
“Donal was there by my side and said how amazing I looked. I was so happy we went through this together.
“Donal even shook the surgeon’s hand after, he was so happy. “It’s brought Donal and I so much closer as well.
“He is always paying me compliments, and every time he hugs me, he’s like, ‘Oh my God, you feel so little’.
“We’ve been together nearly 16 years, and since having the surgery it’s like a new relationship again.”
Vikki, who is now a size 8 and just under 10st, says: “There’s so much stigma around gastric and cosmetic surgery, but you can’t put a price on happiness. And our marriage now is simply incredible, with a massively improved sex life.
We are so much closer
“It just makes sense — if you’re happy, you’re a nicer person to be with.”
Donal was so impressed with his wife’s results that he decided to get a hair transplant and lost 2st at the gym.
Vikki adds: “People now call us the poor Posh and Becks because we are just like them, but without their wealth. We love it!”
Donal says his wife’s surgery prompted him to reflect on himself.
He says: “I started to look at myself and realised I wanted to do something for myself, too. I needed a bit of a rejuvenation.
“I can’t stress enough how Vikki getting this surgery has transformed our lives.
“I remember going out with friends, and moaning about the state of my marriage because she was so unhappy. I didn’t know what to do.
“We didn’t know the gastric sleeve was what we needed to fix our relationship, until it happened.
“It has made us so much closer — physically, as well. We can’t keep our hands off each other.”