The PIP implant scandal came to light four years ago this week, but some women still have the defective implants in their body as they cannot afford to have them replaced, and are terrified of being flat-chested again. Radhika Sanghani reports
Maureen Carroll, 45, found out her breast implants were faulty exactly four years ago. She was desperate to get them removed and replaced, but the clinic who gave her the PIP implants refused to rectify it for free. She could get them taken out on the NHS, but as much as she hates having the faulty silicone in her body, Maureen is so frightened of being flat-chested again, that she still has her implants in.
“I thought about [getting them removed and not replaced] but then I’m going to have this really saggy skin in front of me,” she says. “How will I feel about that? Am I going to be more depressed? I’m quite worried actually. I want them out and I’d love to have them back in when I get the money but I worry what I’m going to look like. It’s a difficult situation.”
Maureen, a full-time mother to three children, doesn’t have the £4,500 she needs to get new breast implants and estimates she won’t until 2016. Meanwhile, she has to live with the PIP implants in her body. They haven’t ruptured – as many have been known to do - but she can feel them ripple, and scans have shown there is fluid in her left breast.
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