'I still miss mum every day': Colin Hendry's daughter campaigns for tighter cosmetic surgery regulations after her mother died following botched liposuction
UPDATED:
11:29 GMT, 13 March 2012
After losing her mother following a botched liposuction operation, Rheagan Hendry is determined to make sure the same thing never happens to another woman.
The 22-year-old daughter of footballer Colin has launched a campaign calling for tighter regulations in the cosmetic industry.
Rheagan was inspired to act after her mother's life changed forever in 2002 during what was meant to be a routine procedure.
Rheagan Hendry has launched a campaign calling for tighter regulations in the cosmetic industry after losing her mother following a routine liposuction operation on her stomach in 2002
Four times pregnant Denise decided to have liposuction on her stomach.
The financial cost of the operation was 2,400, but the cost to her health was much more.
She suffered nine bowel
punctures, blood poisoning, kidney failure, a heart attack and a
collapsed lung and was forced to stay in hospital for six months.
Denise, pictured with footballer husband Colin Hendry, who was her full-time career, underwent a series of operations to repair her body but contracted meningitis during the last one
Denise died seven years later, aged 43, after contracting
meningitis during one of a series of operations designed to repair her
body.
Rheagan is now
hoping to change measures for good, including calling for a ban on advertising
offers on procedures and she wants the age limit for procedures raised
from 18 to 21.
The mother-of-one, who, along with her father, was Denises's full-time carer, says she is carrying out her final wishes.
In an interview with Best magazine, Rheagan said: 'I still miss Mum every day. She'll never see me walk up the aisle and didn't get to hold her first
grandchild.
The four-times pregnant mother, pictured with children Kyle, Callum, Rheagan and Niamh, underwent liposuction on her stomach
'But now I am determined to make sure no other family suffers
like us.
'Mum blamed herself for
what had happened and felt guilt-ridden and embarrassed that vanity had
cost her her health.
'Once
she took my hand and said “When I get better, I'll make damn sure no
other woman has to go through this” but tragically, mum never got to
that stage.'
An inquest into Denise's death was
launched last March but no action was taken against the surgeon who
operated after he took himself of the British Medical Register
in 2003.
The family, during Denise's funeral in 2009, at St.Cuthberts Parish church in Lytham, Lancashire
He still operates in his native Sweden.
Rheagan said: 'In many ways, the inquest was harder (than her funeral).
'It opened up old wounds and the coroner said mum “had been robbed of her life”, which is how we all felt.'
But amazingly, Rheagan is not anti-cosmetic surgery.
She says: 'Although I would never have cosmetic surgery, I'm not against it.I just want women to ask themselves if they really need it.
'There's so much pressure to look perfect, and with airbrushed images in magazines, cosmetic surgery is seen as “the norm”.'
Colin and Rheagan, pictured last March at Bolton Coroners Court for the inquest into Denise's death
Read the full story in this week’s Best magazine on sale now
Rheagan is now hoping to collect 10,000 signatures for an e-petition to prompt a debate on the subject in the House of Commons.
She founded The Denise Hendry Foundation which provides support for those who have suffered from medical negligence.
She has also launched The Keep It Real Campaign for Natural Beauty for young women and girls all over the UK.
Denise ran the first Miss Natural Northwest 2011 competition, raising 5,000.
She has since worked to help create a safer understanding of aesthetic surgery and the risks involved.
She said: 'I'm determined to change things now before it's too late.
'I'm doing this for every woman out there who has been made to feel as though she isn't perfect the way she is.
'I don't want anyone to feel pressurised into making a decision that they might come to regret.'
To sign Rheagan's petition and for more information, visit www.officialrheaganhendry.com