Linda Briggs Cosmetic Surgery & Dentistry

 

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Daily Mirror - 27 April 2012 |  Winning Cosmetic Surgery

 

   

Winning cosmetic surgery is my only chance to be normal
By Mel Fallowfield (Permission granted by Mel Fallowfield to reproduce her work here mel,fallowfield@btinternet.com )

Daily Mirror on line version

There aren’t many beauty pageants that are open to women of every shape, size and age.  But for Miss Cosmetic Surgery 2012 there is only one criteria to enter – you must have had plastic surgery and you must want more.

Because that’s the prize – a £3,000 trip overseas to be surgically enhanced in any way you like.

When the
Miss Cosmetic Surgery competition was run for the first time last year, it sparked huge controversy, with Adam Searle, former president of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, branding it “dangerous and highly unethical”.

Undeterred, organiser and cosmetic surgery consultant,
Linda Briggs, is running it again next month, and this time it’s going to be even more glitzy.

She’s had more than 150 eager entrants for the big day at a top London hotel, although only 15 finalists will make it on to the catwalk.

They will explain the transformation they have been through already and lay out exactly what procedure they want done next.

The three judges, Linda, a top cosmetic surgeon and a beauty consultant, will decide whose transformation is best and who deserves more surgery.

The winner will get whatever surgery their £3,000 prize will cover but must fork out themselves for anything beyond that budget.

Second place gets dermal fillers and third place, Botox.

Linda, 58, is no stranger to surgery having spent more than £30,000 on various procedures including face-lifts and liposuction.

She says: “Some surgeons didn’t want to be associated with me any more after last year’s pageant but I know that there are women out there so desperate to have surgery they’re getting into serious debt.

“This is a lot of fun and a chance for women to show off what they’ve achieved so far and win the chance to have more surgery.  I’m not encouraging them to have it in the first place.

"These are women that want the surgery anyway.”

Last year’s winner Julie Lockwood, 46, of Hull, had a boob job after coming first in last year’s pageant.  And despite the controversy, she say s it was one of the best things she’s ever done.

In March 2009, teacher Julie was the heaviest she’d ever been at 20st and a size 24. “I was utterly miserable,” she remembers.

“I’ d been big for ages, bar once when I went to Slimming World and lost 6st in 2002 – I even won Slimmer of the Year.

“But just a year later I’d put all the weight back on and more and ended up at 20st.

"Food was my comfort and I’d eat anything, with a particular weakness for chocolate. It was so depressing.”

After a drastic decision to have a gastric bypass, Julie’s weight plummeted. Within 18 months, she’d hit 11st and could finally fit in to size 10-12 dresses.

“But I hated my boobs,” she says. “They were saggy and horrible and felt like flaps of skin rather than breasts. There was no fat in them at all.

“ I couldn’t let my partner Tony even touch them.  But on my wage I certainly couldn’t afford to have an operation.”

After being crowned
Miss Cosmetic Surgery UK 2011, she says she can’t understand the fuss caused by giving away serious surgery.

“There was so much controversy about it, but I can honestly say it was one of my best days.

“I never imagined I’d win and when my name was called out I was in shock – but it was fabulous.

“I used the £3,000 prize to fund my boob job in
Tunisia.  I was a size 38A and now I’m a perfect 38C and it’s changed my life.

“The whole experience was amazing.  I feel sexy and confident for the first time in my life.  Tony is thrilled, too, not that he complained about them before, but because I’m so much happier.”

This year’s contestants hope they can find as much success as Julie, although they are well aware of the furore surrounding the competition.

Stacey Needham, a pharmacy dispenser from Stoke-on-Trent, had a gastric bypass four years ago, followed by a tummy tuck.  She’s now so desperate to have surgery to remove the loose skin her weight loss left on her arms, she’s entered the competition, despite being terrified about parading in front of the judges.

“I was big for as long as I can remember,” says Stacey, 29. “Chubby as a toddler, I graduated to a size 16 when I started secondary school.

" When I was 19 and 17st I met my ex-husband, but my size didn’t worry him.  I got pregnant with my son Harry, now 10, shortly afterwards and never lost my pregnancy weight.  On the contrary, I piled on more and more until I was 26st.  “I hated being big but no diets worked.  I tried them all, Slimming World, WeightWatchers, even the Cabbage Soup Diet.  But every time I’d lose a couple of stone and stop.

“I cooked huge stodgy meals like pasta every night and would just eat and eat and eat, but I’d still be hungry about an hour later.  My stomach would literally rumble with hunger.”

Stacey hated being so big.  The last straw was when she went to the supermarket and heard one of the staff say: “Here comes big fat Bertha.”   “I was absolutely mortified and wouldn’t go there again,” she recalls.

A few months later, in 2008, Stacey had a gastric bypass, paying for it by taking £12,500 in equity out of her house.  For the first two months she could only eat purees and the weight fell off.

“Now I’m never hungry,” she says.  “I have to remind myself to eat.  After 18 months I got down to 10st 7lb and a size 12, which is fine for my 5ft 5in height.”

It was then Stacey split up with her husband.  “Losing weight made me realise I wasn’t happy in the relationship and hadn’t been for a while,” she recalls.  “I finally had the confidence to realise I could cope on my own.  “I had a tummy tuck in June 2011 on the NHS as I had so much loose skin it was getting infected.

"But in an ideal world I’d have skin taken from my arms, thighs and get my boobs done – they’re a G cup but they’re all skin and no bust. I can’t afford it and the NHS won’t pay for anything else.”

Stacey met a new partner just over a year ago, who is happy with her body.  But she’s still desperate for more surgery to make her transformation complete.  “I long to look normal,” says Stacey.  “This competition feels like my only option as I can’t afford to pay for anything else.

"I’m nervous about it though but I’m sure I’ll pluck up the courage as it’s worth it for what I could win.  I know it’s controversial but it’s my only chance.”

Jean Hill, 55, agrees.  The cleaner from Tewkesbury, Glos, is desperate to win more surgery because of how well her first cosmetic procedure, a nose job, went.

“I’ve never liked my nose since I was a little girl,” says Jean. “When I started secondary school at 11, I was dubbed ‘Concorde’ and by the time I was about 16 I was so shy about it I wouldn’t have my photograph taken.

"I didn’t feel confident about going out – it always seemed a waste of time to get dressed up and put on make-up.  I’d feel that people were staring at my nose.”  Jean always dreamed of surgery but couldn’t afford it. So when she and husband Timothy, also 55, sold their house in 2008, she decided to go for it.

“I always wanted a nose job so when we had some spare money I decided on the spur of the moment to have it done,” says Jean.  “I didn’t tell Timothy before my first consultation.  “I spoke to the consultant and they booked me in for a week later.  When I told Timothy he was surprised but very supportive and took me in for the operation, which cost £3,500.

“I love my transformation.  The first time I saw my nose I burst into tears of joy – it’s changed my life. Now I love putting on make-up.

“I feel more confident than I did in my 30s. I work in Morrisons as a cleaner and I enjoy chatting to the customers without feeling embarrassed about my nose.”

Having had the surgery and realising how good it was made Jean want more. “But I can’t afford it,” she explains. “So I decided to enter the pageant.

"I’d love some liposuction or my Caesarean scar removed or maybe some fillers in my face to make me feel even better.

“I’ve kept fairly quiet about my surgery so far and I haven’t discussed entering the competition with anyone but I’m not embarrassed about it.

"My nose job is something I’m pleased I did and I found it incredibly rewarding.”


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Cosmetic Surgery Abroad   |   Page last updated 16 October 2018