Australian model raises $8000 from strangers for breast implant removal

After years of pain, Shannon Hotte became convinced her breast implants were the cause. Photo / Instagram

After four years battling chronic fatigue, pain, migraines and insomnia, Australian model Shannon Hottes became convinced her breast implants were the cause of her health issues.

The 31-year-old model and animal lover, who has appeared in the TV series, Underbelly, was initially against removing her implants.

Speaking to 9Honey the Gold Coast resident said: "I didn't like the idea of having them removed to solve my problems, so at first I went into getting tested for every other illness."

But after almost half a decade of pain, Hottes decided "the only option" was to have them removed.

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So for the first time I am asking for help for myself personally 🙏🏻 not my animals! New link in my bio! After my post yesterday I had a lot of beautiful messages and comments 💕 firstly, I am soooo grateful for all the love and support I have been receiving, you are all so beautiful and special to me. I am now taking the advice of many amazing people 🙏🏻 I have created a GoFundMe page to help me raise the funds I need for my breast explant surgery! Any support means the world to me, even one dollar 💵 moves me closer towards my surgery and ultimately my health, and if you can’t donate then please share my story around 💚 thank you, so much love to you all!

A post shared by Shannon.Hottes (@shannon.hottes) on May 22, 2020 at 12:51am PDT

Hottes also shared that she went through a series of tests including an MRI after seeing a neurologist. When the results came back as inconclusive, she decided to "take a leap of faith" and have her implants removed.

Breast Implant Illness or BII is a term used to describe illness following breast implant surgery. Notable symptoms are chronic fatigue, sleep issues, joint and muscle pain - all of which are often alleviated with the removal of implants.

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And today I saw a neurologist! This last week has been a scary one for me. I’ve been semi open about the last few years of my ‘unexplained illness’ journey. I’ve been seeing lots of doctors, specialists and had a lot of different tests, scans and hospital visits with no diagnosis 😢 no explanation for why I am feeling so horrible, why I feel like I’m dying everyday. The last 8 months I’ve had new symptoms come up which resulted in my doctor telling me to get an MRI of my brain 🧠 I got the results last week and my doctor had me shitting myself with fear for my life. Today I saw a neurologist to get more in-depth details about my results. Yes, I have inflammation in my head, mostly around my sinus mastoid 😱 but it’s not life threatening and there is no explanation as to why it’s happened. So, here I am. Again with no reason as to why this is happening. More inflammatory issues adding onto my the long list of symptoms I have that have no prognosis. I am now at my wits end with this and my quality of life is at an all time low. I have now decided that I need to take the leap of faith and remove my breast implants and hope that it improves my health 🙏🏻 I am booked in to start this process this week. I have been/ and will continue to document this entire journey, but from now on I will update on this journey regularly and be as transparent as I can on my social media. I believe that a lot of women are suffering and that is why I am opening up and sharing my story more ❤️ I want other women to know that this is real and if I do magically heal like many other women are after having these implants out than women all over the world need this knowledge. We all need this knowledge, for the sake of our lives because this is life threatening and implants are slowly killing us 💔

A post shared by Shannon.Hottes (@shannon.hottes) on May 18, 2020 at 12:42am PDT

But breast implant removal isn't cheap so Hottes turned to crowdfunding to raise the money for her surgery. And thanks to the kindness of strangers she has amassed $8000 through GoFundMe to go towards her $11,400 medical bills.

Finding a surgeon who acknowledges breast implant related illnesses was also challenging for Hottes. She told 9Honey: "My surgeon believes in breast implant illness, and that is rare because not a lot of surgeons do. So to have someone making you feel safe and validated in your feelings is important to me."

Hottes has thanked her generous donors and shared that their contribution has left her "speechless".