A 79-year-old man who underwent a series of cosmetic procedures to make himself look young found himself unable to fully close his eyes, and having to tape them shut at night.
Pete Broadhurst decided to go under the knife in 2019, after the mother of his two children allegedly broke up with him over his looks. A dental procedure he had done earlier had left him with puffy hamster cheeks, so he decided to get those fixed and smooth out some of the wrinkles on his face as well. He ended up paying £11,000 for a neck lift, under-eye blepharoplasty and a rhinoplasty, but despite being discharged from the hospital soon after the nine-hour procedure, he immediately knew something was wrong.
Photo: Jafar Ahmed/Unsplash
“I looked like I’d been beaten up. It was horrendous, and I couldn’t close my eyes,” Pete said. “I was being sick all through the night and in my sleep. The day after the surgery I wished I’d never gone.”
When he went to the hospital two weeks after the surgery to get his stitches removed and told the doctors there that his eyes were very irritated and watering, the English pensioned was told that these were normal side effects that would pass by themselves. But when he went to another hospital to have a routine prostate exam, doctors there noticed that his eyes weren’t closing properly.
Pete’s surgeon at BMI hospital in Birmingham, England, where he had his cosmetic procedure done, arranged for a free corrective surgery at another hospital for a skin graft to help the skin in his cheeks meet his eyelids. This operation took another four hours, but two years on, he is still unable to close his eyes completely.
The 79-year-old had been prescribed eye drops to take eight times a day, and was also advised to microwave a towel to wrap around his eyes when he sleeps. His vision problems have gotten so bad that he can’t drive a car or make out people’s facial expressions. His self-confidence is at an all-time low as well.
“Getting on the bus one day a man said, ‘my God, what’s happened to your face?’ Pete complained. “I was already feeling down it just made it worse. Now I’m only worried about getting my eyes comfortable. It’s gone beyond how I look. I just want relief. I want to tell others to be careful because it can ruin your life.”
Unfortunately, all private hospitals and clinics in the UK have refused to operate on Pete Broadhurst again, as further surgery could cause his vision problems to worsen. he has had to look for help elsewhere, so he had a procedure done in Turkey, and is due back there for a follow-up.
“My left eye is still open today. Whoever you trust, even a top surgeon, please be careful because it can ruin your life,” Pete warned.
A couple of years ago, recovered the similar case of a Chinese woman who was left unable to close her eyes following a botched double eyelid procedure.
