A mum has revealed her surgery nightmare after being "left for dead" following a botched tummy tuck.
Quanna Brown, 34, shared the shocking images of the scars after her incisions opened and became infected.
The mum-of-two decided to have the op in June 2015 after pregnancy weight knocked her body confidence.
After being bullied and called ugly and fat she felt she wanted to treat herself to a mummy make over.
However, the botched tummy tuck left her in hospital for 50 days and required five surgeries.
Quanna, who's pregnant with her third child, has been left with a deformed stomach that she struggles to look at.
Quanna, from Chicago, Illinois, said: "I basically wanted to make changes. I'd been through a lot and had people saying I was fat and ugly and after having kids, I wanted to get a mummy make over.
"I did a lot of research on the doctor - he got four and five stars and he was so nice and warming.
"I was very happy on the day of the surgery. I woke up bright and early and I was very excited, I went shopping, I wanted something new to wear after."
But just four days later Quanna was experiencing a lot of pain and was unable to move.
She said: "It felt like my bandages were too tight and I couldn't walk.
"I'd never had surgery before so at first I thought it was normal.
"I could smell it and I could see all this puss and blood like it was infected, it felt like my skin was ripping apart."
Quanna had to be pushed on a walker to her follow up appointment.
She said: "The doctor said he'd never seen anything like this before and gave me antibiotics.
"But my parents demanded that they fix me. My insides were opened and I was ripped.
"He redid the wounds and sent me home. The next time I went back in [he] wasn't there and his partner looked at me but also sent me home afterwards."
In severe pain and unable to move, Quanna was rushed to the emergency room the next day.
She said: "They saved my life. I barley remember it. I just remember one of the doctor's face[s], she was looking so angry at what happened to me."
Quanna stayed in hospital for over 50 days and had five surgeries to remove skin and tissue as well as skin grafts.
She said: "When I got released from hospital, I wasn't able to walk straight and I was on a cane, I was back and forth in hospital with blood clots, I spent two more weeks in hospital and I still wasn't feeling well, and I had to do something.
"My turning point came when my daughter asked for a bowl of cereal and I couldn't get it for her."
After that day Quanna was determined to get better before daughter Ava's 5th birthday in October and started physical therapy.
She said: "Since then I'm getting this back together. I am able to participate in activities like I used to and just hand out with my family and friends."
In fact Quanna, whose third child is due in May, credits her children with keeping her fighting and smiling throughout the nightmare.
She added: "The kids keep me going. I can't look at my stomach, it reminds me of a mushroom.
"But my daughter hugs and kisses me, she makes me feel better.
"A lot of my friends didn't know what I had been through because I always have a smile on my face.
"I take care of my kids, they are my main concerns. I'm excited for my miracle baby and I am excited to just be alive."
- CATERS
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