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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Jasmine Norden & Kieren Williams

Dad kills himself after daughter, 29, dies from botched Brazilian butt lift

A dad took his own life after his daughter died following a botched Brazilian butt lift operation in Turkey.

Craig Cambridge, 51, found his life “spiralling downwards” after his 29-year-old daughter Leah Cambridge died following a 2018 operation in Turkey that went wrong.

The dad was tragically found dead at his home in Leeds and an inquest has found how he had never been able to get over Leah’s awful death.

On the day he died, he had tried to ring doctors three times before his death but they had been closed because it was a bank holiday, Leeds Live reports .

After an investigation into his death, senior coroner Kevin McLoughlin said he would be contacting the surgeon who botched Leah’s operation.

Craig struggled with alcohol dependency and depression after his daughter’s tragic death, Wakefield Coroners' Court heard.

Leah Cambridge tragically died shortly after the surgery at a private hospital in Turkey (Cambridge Family / SWNS)
The 29-year-old had reportedly paid £3,000 for the surgery (mirror.co.uk)

On April, 5, 2021, his daughter's partner found Craig dead in his loft. This came nearly three years after Leah died in Izmir, Turkey, in August 2018.

She died from a pulmonary embolism after Dr Ali Uckan accidentally injected fat into her veins. Leah had three heart attacks at the operating table.

Mr McLoughlin conducted the inquests for the dad and daughter and said he wanted to let Dr Ali Uckan know the damage his surgery caused.

He said to Craig's daughters Hayley and Chelsea and ex-partner Theresa Hall: “Normally I am quite detached and hard-hearted about inquests, but when I saw another tragedy had befallen your family, I felt quite grievous.

The doctor Leah went to had been used by Towie stars like Lauren Goodger (mirror.co.uk)
The coroner reached out to the doctor responsible eight times and heard nothing back (mirror.co.uk)

“Having conducted the inquest into Leah all those years ago, I was incensed that the surgeon in Turkey stood well clear.

“I am proposing to send the report to the surgeon to make him aware of the tentacles of this.

“I am intending to send it to the medical authorities in Turkey to make them aware of how a tragedy manifests itself years later.

“I feel dreadfully sorry for you as a family.”

Chelsea and her partner had gone to see him on April 5, 2021, but when they were unable to get in, Chelsea’s partner ended up climbing through a window.

It was then he found the body of the former personal trainer and called paramedics. Craig was tragically pronounced dead at 7:50pm that evening. He had left notes for both his daughters.

Craig had a history of depression and anxiety that became much worse after Leah’s death. He had been on medication and turned to alcohol and was under the care of a community mental health team.

Police also found that the morning he took his own life he had tried to call doctors three times, but they were closed because it was a bank holiday.

Dr Uckan did speak at Leah's inquest, where he called the operation “a guessing game”, speaking to Leah's widower Scott.

Mr McLoughlin branded the surgeon a “coward” back in 2019 for not answering her family's questions.

The coroner said that he had written to the doctor eight times since to ask him to give evidence at Craig's inquest - but got no response.

As he returned a verdict of suicide today, Mr McLoughlin said: “I am reliant upon on the pathologist for the cause of death, which in this case is hanging.

“This was a suicide attributed in part to the death of his daughter who died in surgery in Turkey.”

The Samaritans is available 24/7 if you need to talk. You can contact them for free by calling 116 123, email jo@samaritans.org or head to the website to find your nearest branch. You matter.

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