Andrea’s implants anguish

PAIN . . . Andrea Hornby

Mum’s fear over botched surgery
AN Oldham mother-of-three is living in fear after experiencing symptoms which suggest her PIP breast implants may be leaking.

Andrea Hornby says she can’t afford to pay for surgery to remove and replace them.

And she claims the company which gave her the £4,995 uplift and implant surgery are refusing to do the work for free — unless both implants are ruptured and she signs a disclaimer.

The 37-year-old, who extolled the virtues of breast implants on national TV three years ago when she appeared on Channel 4’s “Wife Swap” said her hands are tied and she doesn’t know which way to turn.

Andrea had the surgery three-and-a-half years ago to boost her confidence after giving birth to her three children, now aged four, 11 and 14.

Eight months ago she began to feel pain and a burning sensation in her right breast — symptoms since reportedly connected with a leaking implant.

She said: “It was something I had thought about for some time, to help my confidence.”

Andrea, of Mortimer Street, underwent the procedure with The Hospital Group, and contacted the company’s helpline when worries about the safety of PIP implants surfaced.

She added: “I was told it would cost £1,500 to take them out, but if they are both ruptured they will replace them for free, but only if I sign a disclaimer.

“They also wanted to charge me £50 just to tell me whether I had PIP implants or not, but luckily my GP had my medical notes.”

Andrea contacted Atwood solicitors, who are representing a number of women with the implants. They advised her to sign nothing.

Meanwhile, Andrea is due to see a consultant at The Hospital Group’s Manchester clinic today, followed by an appointment at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary on Friday, where she hopes to have an MRI scan to show if the implants are leaking.

Andrea, who doesn’t have £1,500 to remove the implants, said: “I’m disgusted. I am really worried and can’t think of anything else. It’s on my mind 24-hours-a-day, it’s awful.

“I want them out. I don’t want something in my body that could cause me major problems, but even if I could find the money to have them removed, I couldn’t afford to have them replaced.

“I had a lot of normal breast tissue cut away when I had the uplift and implants, and if they took them out now I would be left with two empty envelopes. I don’t think that would do me any good psychologically.

“I wish I had never had it done, and I wish I had never spoken about it on ‘Wife Swap’. I would hate to think that any other woman might have had the implants because of what I said.

“I have been in touch with other women on Facebook who have had lymph nodes removed because their implants have leaked. It’s really frightening.”

Andrea is among thousands of women who fear that their implants — which contain industrial silicone not suitable for inside human bodies — may be leaking.

The NHS believes up to 40,000 women have the PIP implants, made by French company Poly Implant Prostheses.

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has accused private clinics of “not stepping up to their responsibilities” in removing them.

The NHS will remove, but not replace, implants if a private clinic refuses or no longer exists.

A spokeswoman for The Hospital Group declined to comment.