After losing her man, clerk may now lose her breasts

KUALA LUMPUR: A clerk who lost her boyfriend after a procedure to enlarge her breasts went awry may now lose these as well.

The 30-year-old woman, known only as Tham, said the procedure had left her with severe infections and itchiness on her breasts.

Tham, who is from Pahang, said she visited a surgeon here two months ago for the procedure as she had wanted to surprise her boyfriend of five years with larger breasts.

“My boyfriend always told me that he wished I was thinner and had bigger breasts,” she said.

Double trouble: Tham (left) telling Chong and his assistant about her situation during a press conference at Wisma MCA in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

However, he left her soon after the surgery. “He was angry because I had spent so much money on the surgery,” she said, adding that the ex-boyfriend was also uncomfortable with the wounds on her body after the procedure.

Tham had borrowed RM13,000 from her father to pay for the procedure.

“The surgeon told me he would remove the fat from my hip and waist, and transfer this to my breasts.

“A week after the surgery, there was pus oozing out from where he had injected the fat,” said Tham.

She added that she had been conscious throughout the painful two-hour ordeal because the surgeon claimed he was not licensed to anesthetise her.

“My breast area also became swollen and turned black,” she said.

When Tham went back to the clinic, the surgeon had offered to re-do the entire procedure.

“I decided to consult a skin specialist instead,” said Tham who is now undergoing treatment for her injuries.

MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Datuk Michael Chong said he would engage a lawyer to fight Tham's case.

“We believe that the surgeon is not licensed,” he said, adding that the man, who operates at a clinic near a major shopping centre here, had refused to compensate Tham for his mistake.

He urged women who chose to go for cosmetic or plastic surgery to only consult licensed doctors.

“This will reduce the risks of having such side effects,” he said.

Chong also said he would check with the Health Ministry to determine if surgeries transferring fat from the abdomen to the breasts were legal.

The department had received 12 such cases since 2009.

Warm Regard, Sara Pandian