A 42-year-old mother of five from England was left paralyzed neck down after undergoing a weight loss surgery in Turkey. Doctors say she suffered extensive nerve damage due to a severe vitamin deficiency, resulting in nutritional neuropathy, a rare but serious side effect of the procedure.
Danielle Peebles, decided to get gastric sleeve, a surgical procedure for weight loss at a hospital in Turkey after she could barely walk with 392 pounds and was on a long wait for bariatric surgery on the NHS.
“I was absolutely desperate. I put on a lot of weight over the years,” Peebles told the Manchester Evening News.
“It’s a long wait on the NHS for surgery and I appreciate that, no one could really tell me how long that was going to be. I was trying to improve myself, and be a better mum and a better nana as quickly as possible as my grandson was about to be born.”
Peebles underwent the procedure in 2023, believing it was the best decision for her. Initially, she thought everything had gone smoothly, but soon after returning home, her problems began.
“From the moment I got home, I just couldn’t eat, I couldn’t keep anything down, I could barely have any liquid. That carried on for weeks and months, I just couldn’t tolerate anything,” she said.
When Peebles reached out to the medical team in Turkey, they advised her to visit A&E. But after going to the hospital, her symptoms were initially attributed to dehydration, and she was discharged after receiving fluids. However, her condition worsened, and in January 2024, she collapsed after beginning to feel numbness in her legs.
Peebles was left paralyzed from the neck down, enduring excruciating pain and heightened sensitivity in her feet even with the slightest touch. “I’d never had weight loss surgery, so I didn’t know if this was just part of it. But then I collapsed and when I came round, I was paralyzed from the neck down and couldn’t walk,” she recalled.
Doctors diagnosed her with nutritional neuropathy, a rare condition caused by a severe vitamin deficiency. Peebles was told she had suffered extensive nerve damage and might never walk again. It was at that moment that she began questioning her decision to undergo surgery.
“You don’t hear that you can get nutritional neuropathy from not eating. You’re not told about these side effects because they’re so rare,” she said.
Peebles had to spend five months at the hospital before she slowly started regaining sensation in her limbs. With hard work and medical support, she was able to leave without crutches.
According to estimates, neurological problems can occur in 5% to 10% of people after bariatric surgery. One common issue, called peripheral neuropathy, can develop anywhere from 6 weeks to several years after the surgery. When this condition is caused by a lack of vitamin B1, it is known as “bariatric beriberi” which mainly affects the lower limbs, causing both sensory and motor problems.
