An influencer has revealed how she needed three surgeries and spent around £39,000 after her nose collapsed following a horror infection linked to a botched nose job in Turkey.
Kim Hartnett, from Australia, said she became obsessed with “fixing” her appearance after becoming heavily involved in social media and appearing on a TV show.
The salon owner travelled overseas for her first rhinoplasty procedure believing she only needed to make her nose “slightly smaller”.
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But within weeks, the 30-year-old realised something had gone badly wrong.
Kim eventually underwent three separate surgeries across multiple countries after suffering severe complications – including a serious infection that caused her nose to collapse.
The mum of two said she is now sharing her story to warn others not to “chase perfection” through cosmetic surgery.
A post sharing her experience has since gained more than 1,300 likes on social media.
Kim, who owns a luxury hair extension salon and education brand, told Need To Know: “I was constantly looking at myself thinking, ‘What can I improve? What can I fix?’
“Looking back now, it makes me really sad because I can see so clearly that I was beautiful the way I was.
“There genuinely wasn’t anything wrong with my nose.”
Kim said she made the decision to undergo surgery far too casually after a friend suggested travelling overseas together for procedures.
She said: “A girlfriend of mine mentioned she was going to Turkey to get hers done and asked if I wanted to come.
“I kind of just thought, ‘Oh well, if I don’t do it now, I probably never will.’
“I treated it like it was such a casual thing when in reality it was major surgery.”
The original surgery cost around £6,100, rising to around £8,600 once flights and accommodation were included.
But just two weeks after the operation, Kim knew something was wrong.
She said: “The surgeon kept telling me it was ‘just swelling’ and that I needed to wait a full year.
“Deep down I knew this wasn’t normal.”
Kim later underwent a second surgery after her nose was damaged from the original procedure.
She praised the surgeon and said the results initially looked “amazing”.
But around a week later, she became seriously ill and developed a severe infection.
Kim said: “My nose started collapsing and the scar tissue began contracting into the skin, creating large dents and deformities.”
The business owner said the experience left her withdrawing from social media and avoiding being seen in public.
She said: “After the second surgery and the infection, I really stopped wanting to socialise and pretty much disappeared from social media completely.
“I didn’t want to be posting myself or really being seen at all.”
Kim said the uncertainty surrounding whether her nose could even be repaired was mentally exhausting.
She added: “After the infection, nobody knew when my nose would even be healthy enough to operate on again, so it felt really uncertain for a long time.”
Her third surgery eventually took place in Europe and cost around £18,000, rising to roughly £20,500 including travel expenses.
Across all three surgeries, flights, accommodation and medical costs, Kim estimates she spent roughly £39,000 in total.
After refunds, she says she remains around £29,000 out of pocket.
Kim said she is grateful her nose has now been repaired but admitted she wishes she had never touched it in the first place.
She said: “If I could go back and have my original nose back, absolutely I would.
“I genuinely prefer how my natural nose looked.
“But after everything that happened and after three major surgeries, my nose was never going to come out ‘perfect’ again.”
Kim says she is not against cosmetic surgery but hopes others think carefully before making permanent changes to their appearance.
She added: “I do think when it comes to tweaking really minor things or chasing perfection, people need to take a step back a little bit and really think about whether they actually need it.
“Looking back now, there was absolutely nothing wrong with my nose.”
