In June 2021, Chelsea Connell forked out £9,000 for a gastric sleeve that she hoped would change her life.

After the birth of her first child, the then 28-year-old from Hamilton, Glasgow, weighed 16 stone and was a size 20 but was struggling with her body. 

After three years of research, the mother-of-two booked herself in to Spire Hospital, a private clinic in Manchester to go under the knife on June 22, 2021.

But her dream quickly turned in to a nightmare when the former beautician found herself unable to walk and struggling with blurred vision, migraines and vertigo after her seemingly successful operation.

Following a series of tests, Chelsea claims doctors gave her the news she had irreversible brain damage and had developed the neurological condition Wernicke’s encephalopathy.

Despite the debilitating condition, the Scottish-native has said she doesn’t regret her decision and said her weight loss allowed her to conceive her daughter and she would do it again in a heartbeat.

Chelsea, now 32, told MailOnline that she had struggled with her weight and wasn’t happy with her body but instead of flying out to Turkey, she decided to go private in the UK for her gastric band operation.

After detailed research, the then mother-of-one decided to go for it but said she wasn’t prepared for the results.

 

In June 2021 Chelsea Connell paid £9,000 for a gastric sleeve operation in a private clinic in Manchester but her dream quickly turned in to a nightmare as she battled with terrible side effects

In June 2021 Chelsea Connell paid £9,000 for a gastric sleeve operation in a private clinic in Manchester but her dream quickly turned in to a nightmare as she battled with terrible side effects

After the birth of her first child, the then 28-year-old from Hamilton, Glasgow weighed 16 stone and was a size 20 but was desperate to lose weight

After the birth of her first child, the then 28-year-old from Hamilton, Glasgow weighed 16 stone and was a size 20 but was desperate to lose weight

Chelsea explained that while the gastric band operation itself was a success, she quickly realised there was something very wrong. 

Just three weeks after her surgery, the Glaswegian found herself suffering from vertigo and was unable to keep anything down. 

Two weeks after her initial operation Chelsea was admitted to Glasgow Royal Infirmary where medics tried to get to the bottom of her issues. 

After several rounds of testing, doctors realised Chelsea had suffered from malnutrition and a thiamine (vitamin B1) deficiency resulting in an acute form of brain damage often seen in alcoholics.

Chelsea told MailOnline that she believes if she had been given better aftercare after her gastric bypass operation, she would now be living a normal life.

The trained beautician said that doctors failed to ensure she was eating and drinking normally before discharging and she criticised the private hospital for not providing in-person check ups.

She said: ‘I should’ve gone to Turkey because it’s better care over there. It was rubbish over here – they just phoned for a check up.

‘They just wouldn’t listen and they checked the gastric band but it wasn’t until the tests they realised it was actually brain damage.’

After her seemingly successful operation, the former beautician found herself unable to walk and was struggling with blurred vision, migraines and vertigo that left her hospitalised

After her seemingly successful operation, the former beautician found herself unable to walk and was struggling with blurred vision, migraines and vertigo that left her hospitalised 

Despite the debilitating condition, the Scottish-native has said she doesn't regret her decision and said her weight loss allowed her to conceive her daughter and she would do it again in a heartbeat

Despite the debilitating condition, the Scottish-native has said she doesn’t regret her decision and said her weight loss allowed her to conceive her daughter and she would do it again in a heartbeat

‘For three to four weeks I had nothing. No thiamine and not one person noticed – there’s only so long the body can go without thiamine. 

‘I was being sick all the time, just sicking everything up.’

Chelsea says she has her mother to thank for making sure she was taken seriously by doctors and said at one point she feared she might die. 

The Scot described how after weeks of little to no food or water she couldn’t stand or use the toilet independently and was receiving bed baths by nurses because she was so weak. 

She explained: ‘My mother stormed in and said “my daughter is 28 and when she came in she was able to walk and now she can’t stand”.

‘I just couldn’t keep anything down – even a sip of water was coming back up.

‘When I woke up from the anesthetic I couldn’t see, I couldn’t walk, the room was spinning. 

‘I thought the gastric band was bad but it wan’t until after – that was worse, they thought it was just my body not reacting well.

After several rounds of testing, doctors realised Chelsea had suffered from malnutrition and a thiamine deficiency resulting in an acute form of brain damage often seen in alcoholics

After several rounds of testing, doctors realised Chelsea had suffered from malnutrition and a thiamine deficiency resulting in an acute form of brain damage often seen in alcoholics

‘Even now I look back I don’t really know how I managed – it was kind of like I was dying, I was grey and I was just sicking up bile.

‘If my mum hadn’t insisted on seeing a consultant I wouldn’t be here today.’

Chelsea added that she found it difficult to advocate for herself because she couldn’t think straight she was so hungry.

‘It was terrible and I wasn’t even well enough to care about anything,’ she said. ‘I just wasn’t in my right mind because of not eating. I was just happy to be alive because I couldn’t even move. It was horrific.’

Chelsea revealed her life has been turned upside down since her three-month hospital stay and diagnosis and now simple tasks are a challenge.

The mother-of-two explained she suffers from nystagmus where her eyes move involuntarily from side to side meaning she is unable to focus on anything.

Chelsea is registered as partially blind and said she can’t even go in to Glasgow centre to enjoy an afternoon of shopping because the crowds give her migraines.

She added that she also suffers from acute vertigo and described the condition as like feeling drunk all the time. 

Chelsea's Wernicke's encephalopathy left her unable to walk at one point but now sees her suffering from migraines and has resulted in the mother-of-two partially losing her sight

Chelsea’s Wernicke’s encephalopathy left her unable to walk at one point but now sees her suffering from migraines and has resulted in the mother-of-two partially losing her sight

The Glaswegian explained she struggles to live independently and can’t use public transport or drive drive due to her partial blindness.

She confessed: ‘I can’t judge distances and steps so public transport is hard  – I count all the steps around my own home.’

Chelsea added: ‘Not being able to drive has massively affected me, I’m just much less independent and stay at home more.’  

She explained after she was discharged from hospital her nine-year-old son had to help her go to the toilet and move around the house and her sister moved in with her but now she can walk unaided and has systems to make sure she is safe in her house.

The mum says she counts the steps on her staircase but even then she described walking up and down them as like trying to ‘walk up stair while paralytically drunk’.

And Chelsea has also had to make changes to her home including replacing her walk-in shower with a bath and giving up her dream of opening up her own nail and eyelash business in her home. 

She added: ‘I had to get a bath put in because when I was bending down to shave my legs I would just fall over whereas now I can sit in the bath and lift my leg up.

‘There have been lots of little changes day to day but I just try to manage.

‘One of the worst was not being able to work. I did a nail and eyelash course and bought a summer house as a salon but the gastric sleeve has meant game over and I just had to get rid of it all.’ 

While Chelsea is glad she had her gastric sleeve fitted, she said she ‘wouldn’t wish this on her worst enemy’ and revealed she had tried a number of treatments to ease her symptoms but with little success. 

Despite the litany of side effects, Chelsea remains positive and said she no longer has diabetes, bowel or kidney issues and at a size 12 weighting ten stone,she  no longer worries about her body. 

But most of all she’s glad she underwent the procedure because her weight loss allowed her to welcome her daughter, now two.

‘I won’t get anything else done because I’m happy and I’m lucky to be here and I don’t want anything else. I’ve got my daughter and that’s all I wanted.’ 

Spire Healthcare told MailOnline: ‘We are sorry to hear about Ms Connell’s condition. We are now in direct contact with her to discuss her concerns and will review the care she received accordingly.

‘We are unable to share further detail due to patient confidentiality.

‘Spire Healthcare continuously invests in patient safety, and as a result 98 per cent of our inspected hospitals and clinics are rated Good, Outstanding or the equivalent by health inspectors in England, Wales and Scotland.

‘This includes Spire Manchester, which is rated ‘Outstanding’ by the CQC. We have more hospitals rated ‘Outstanding’ than any other independent acute hospital provider.’

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