Mirian Gom 
LONDON – A British court awards £858,000 in damages to the parents of Khelisyah Ashamu, a 26-year-old UK resident who dies days after undergoing weight-loss surgery in Turkey, in a landmark ruling that sharpens scrutiny of medical tourism operators.
Khelisyah, an IT professional from Romford and a mother of one, travels to Izmir in February 2019 for a gastric bypass procedure arranged through Get Slim in Turkey, a British-run medical tourism company. She pays approximately £3,300 for what is marketed as an all-inclusive surgery and accommodation package.
Eight days after the operation, her condition rapidly deteriorates. She undergoes emergency exploratory surgery, suffers cardiac arrest and later dies in a Turkish hospital on February 9, 2019.
A UK coroner later records the cause of death as gastrointestinal ischaemia, a fatal complication involving restricted blood flow to the intestines.
Khelisyah’s parents, Toyin and Oyebanji Ashamu, sue the firm’s operator, Tracey Ozdemir, arguing that the company bears legal responsibility for the surgery and post-operative care. Ozdemir denies liability.
However, the court accepts expert testimony indicating serious failures in post-operative monitoring and airway management following the second surgery.
Delivering judgment, Mrs Justice Obi ruled that Khelisyah entered into a package travel contract, making the company legally accountable for medical care, accommodation and transport.
“Nothing this court can do can lessen your loss, but I hope this judgment brings some measure of consolation,” the judge tells the family.
The court finds that Get Slim was not merely an introducer but the organiser of a full medical package, awarding the Ashamus £858,000, a figure not disputed by the defendant.
The ruling raises fresh warnings for patients seeking overseas surgery through commercial intermediaries.
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