This autumn, Coronation Street’s Bethany Platt is set to face a life changing trauma when a cosmetic procedure in Turkey goes disastrously wrong.
After accepting a job with a cosmetic surgery company to write an advertorial on their new facility in Turkey, she makes the decision to undergo liposuction at the clinic.
Viewers will see Bethany, played by Lucy Fallon, in a critical condition after contracting sepsis as a result of a botched procedure, leading to her living with a permanent stoma.
The storyline comes as the UK has seen a significant rise in patients seeking corrective treatments from botched cosmetic surgeries performed abroad.
A study* compiled in 2023 highlighted the number of people needing hospital treatment in the UK after getting cosmetic surgery abroad increased by 94 per cent in three years, with procedures carried out in Turkey accounting for more than three quarters.
The same study also revealed a growing number of people who are returning to the UK with complications ranging from wound healing problems to life-threatening sepsis.
Coronation Street also took the decision to feature a character living with a stoma bag as just over 200,000 people in the UK (1 in 335 of the population) have one. Each year, between 13,500 and 21,000 operations are carried out on the NHS leading to stomas being formed.
The storyline begins when Bethany accepts the job at the cosmetic surgery company in Turkey after being approached by Debbie Webster.
Daniel, Bethany’s boyfriend, is the one to take a call from the Turkish hospital with the horrifying news that Bethany is in intensive care and makes a dash to the airport.
Things worsen as Bethany never declared the surgery to her travel insurance, leaving the Platt’s desperately trying to work out how to raise the funds needed to allow Bethany to be discharged.
Coronation Street have been working closely with Colostomy UK to ensure the storyline will be told as accurately and sensitively as possible.
Giovanni Cinque, Marketing & Campaigns Manager at Colostomy UK, said: “We’re really excited that one of the UK’s most loved TV shows is going to feature a major character living with a stoma.
“Even though public awareness has grown considerably over the last few years thanks to a number of celebrities revealing they have had surgery, the challenges that the 200,000 plus people living with a stoma in the UK face are less known, which means that we as a society and as individuals are not as aware as we should be of the choices that we can make to positively improve their quality of life.
“We really hope that Bethany’s journey will go a long way in helping to educate the audience, and thus help to create a more Stoma Aware UK. It’s also been a pleasure for us to work with the behind-the-scenes teams at Coronation Street on this story”
On her upcoming storyline, Lucy Fallon said: “ When I first heard about it I was pleased that they have trusted me with it because it’s an important storyline and of course I really enjoy doing issue based storylines. Obviously this is really hard-hitting, which is exciting from an actor’s point of view, but it does come with quite a lot of pressure and responsibility to get it right because this happens to real life people.
“The storyline is also incredibly important as there’s countless horror stories out there of people talking about their experiences of cosmetic surgery abroad. I really hope this storyline can make people rethink going abroad for cosmetic surgery.”
Glenda Young
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