A mum who’d noticed some ‘sagging and drooping’ jumped at the chance of undergoing a free facelift in Turkey, and didn’t let the small fact that 500 students would be looking on live put her off from going under the knife
A mum was left thrilled when she bagged herself a free Turkey facelift – but it came with a catch.
Having followed the social media channels for plastic surgeon Dr Mike Nayak for around three years, Leslie jumped at the chance when she saw him advertise a competition for a completely free facelift, as part of his TeoNayak Congress. Although many may have been put off by the fact that this op would be performed live in front of 500 medical students, this only made Leslie more interested.
A medical professional herself, well used to the fast-paced environment of an operating theatre, Leslie was keen to lend a hand to demonstrate the procedure for the next generation of surgeons. Although by her own admission, she never wins anything, Leslie decided to throw her hat in the ring anyway, submitting photographs and undergoing two interview rounds before ultimately being picked above hundreds of other applicants.
Explaining why she wanted to have this surgery, Leslie, from Indiana, US, told PEOPLE: “You always start with the little things, right? The creams, then the Botox and the micro-needling. I just looked tired. I noticed sagging and drooping. I thought, maybe one day I could do a facelift.”
Although Dr. Nayak, whose work Leslie regards as “phenomenal”, usually works from his St. Louis practice, this masterclass was held in Turkey, alongside his plastic surgery colleague Dr. Teoman Doğan. Students travelled far and wide for the three-day seminar, with Leslie stepping in as a model patient.
During Leslie’s six-hour surgery, Dr. Nayak wore a camera – in addition to the cameras in the operating theatre – and broadcast the procedure live into an auditorium. All the while, he and his team made sure to narrate the steps to attending students while answering any questions in real time.
Detailing the treatment he gave Leslie, Dr. Nayak explained: “I did a brow lift for her because [her expression] looked sad […]. I removed the fat bags from behind her eyelids. We used fat from her belly to build the dark circles out, to build the tear trough hollows out. And then I usually laser the overlying skin of the lower lids to treat wrinkles, but they didn’t have a laser that I liked, so I did it with a trichloroacetic acid peel instead.”
Unfortunately, Dr. Nayak ended up facing a hurdle he liked to “trying to stay safe while driving through dense fog” when Leslie began bleeding heavily during the procedure. Opening up about this challenge via Instagram, Dr. Nayak revealed: “While the surgery went extremely well, it was very challenging. For reasons unknown, Leslie was very prone to bleeding both during the entire procedure as well as for the first few days afterwards.
“For those unfamiliar, operating in a bleeding surgical field is like trying to stay safe while driving through dense fog or heavy rain. Thankfully, at this point in my career, I no longer find things like that quite as stressful as I once did – even with over 500 people watching.”
Given the bleeding she suffered, Leslie’s treatment required a modified suturing process, leaving her with more bruising than would usually be expected. Thankfully, she healed normally despite this and is now getting plenty of compliments. Leslie said: “You don’t look tired, you look refreshed,” but I still look like me. That’s what I wanted to make sure of — I would still look like me. I wasn’t really trying to look younger.”
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