Massive NINE-stone weight loss left me with loose, saggy skin… now I’ve been transformed by brutal surgery which involved ‘sawing the body in half’

Weight loss had always been a challenge for Tariq Wright – trying every fad diet and both Slimming World and Weight Watchers without being able to shed the pounds.

So when he was offered a quick fix to the issue that plagued his adult life, he thought that would be the end to his misery.  

‘It got to the point where I was having scary conversations with my GP,’ says Tariq, 34, who weighed 20 stone at his heaviest and is 5ft 5in.

‘I was told that I had to do something, otherwise I was putting my life in danger. But the wait for surgery on the NHS was four years.’

This was before fat jabs, so he opted for radical weight-loss surgery in Turkey – a procedure that involved removing 85 per cent of his stomach.

The operation was a success and within six months Mr Wright, from Sheffield, had lost more than nine stone. However, there was an unexpected consequence.

‘The biggest struggle I had was the saggy loose skin,’ he admits. ‘I’d lost so much weight in such a short amount of time, and I looked terrible. It wasn’t something I had even thought about before.

‘I felt worse about my body than when I was overweight.’

It was mainly around his lower abdomen and pelvic region, the areas experts say are the most common to carry excess skin following significant weight loss.

Today, however, these concerns are firmly in the past thanks to a £10,000 operation in which 7lb of skin was cut away.

The gruelling ten-hour surgery, known as a total body lift, is one of the most complex cosmetic procedures to perform. 

Used to tackle the legacy of dramatic weight loss, the four-hour surgery virtually cuts the patient in half to remove the unwanted tissue and tighten the underlying muscles before stitching it back together. 

Potential risks of surgery include infection, bleeding, poor wound healing, fluid accumulation, nerve damage and scarring. 

Recovery is arduous, taking many months. Yet for those like Tariq, who are left with large amounts of sagging skin after massive weight loss, it is the only real option.

With the rise of weight-loss jabs like Mounjaro and Wegovy leading millions to dramatically slim down, surgeons now report that the brutal and once unusual procedure is becoming increasingly popular.  

Tariq returned to Turkey to have his total body lift in February this year, however the procedure is offered in a number of UK clinics including in London and Manchester. He says that the transformation has been ‘remarkable’. 

After the operation, he quit his job at a mortgage company to become a full-time influencer. ‘For the first time in my adult life, I have confidence,’ he says. 

‘I never would have thought in a million years that I would have done a modelling shoot for a sexy underwear brand, but that’s what I do now.’

However, Tariq admits that the surgery has not been without its challenges.

‘I have been left with significant scarring, which will hopefully fade over time. And although I am confident enough to share my journey online that has not stopped the haters commenting.’

Dr Dan Marsh, surgeon and co founder of The Plastic Surgery Group has seen interest in the procedure boom – and says that weight-loss jabs are the main cause.

‘The impact of weight-loss injections on plastic surgery has been massive.

‘Nearly every patient we see is on the jabs. With that, in the last six months we have seen an increased demand in procedures to remove the loose skin that comes with significant weight loss.

‘People seek these procedures for both aesthetic and functional reasons. 

‘Excess skin can cause discomfort, irritation, and chafing, making everyday activities more challenging.’

A total body lift – also known as a 360-degree body lift – is a combination of procedures designed to remove excess skin and fat and tighten the underlying tissues around the abdomen, hips, buttocks, lower back and sometimes breasts and arms depending on the patient’s needs. 

The surgery involves making incisions to excise loose skin and fat and in many cases, particularly in the abdomen, the underlying muscles are also tightened before the incisions are closed with sutures. 

‘The patient will be under general anaesthetic lying on their front. The procedure begins by making a cut across the top of the buttocks, then you tunnel under the skin and lift the lower part up to the incision and stitch it together,’ says Dr Marsh.

‘You would then perform a similar procedure along the pubic bone, where you tunnel up to the ribs pulling the skin down and cutting off the excess. Then the patient may also require the same along the bra line.’

The surgeon explains that this is a combination of three or sometimes even four operations.

‘This is a big procedure that many surgeons will not offer, but it is something we do quite regularly,’ says Mr Marsh.

‘The body lift is more common for patients that have had weight-loss surgery as that usually gives the most extreme weight loss. 

‘For people on jabs it is likely that they will just need one part of the lift, concentrating on the area with the most loose skin.’

The surgery is not without risks, and the expert warns patients need to be aware of them before they embark on the procedure.

‘Generally, I advise patients not to fly for six weeks after surgery, which is why going abroad for the operaiton can pose an added risk,’ says Dr Marsh.

‘It is also important that the patient’s weight has stabilised for at least six months before the procedure is performed, otherwise they risk saggy skin in the future.

‘The other issue is the results will likely fade over time, especially if the patient experiences further weight loss or gains weight. 

‘This is because the skin has previously been stretched and although we have removed excess skin, it no longer has the same elasticity to be able to adjust to changes in weight – so can lead to saggy skin again.’

Tariq still feels the drastic surgery was worth the risk. 

‘It feels like I have a new body, I have had to learn to adapt to the scarring but that is nothing compared to what I had to deal with before; both when I was overweight and when I had saggy skin,’ says Tariq.