An East Yorkshire woman's belly button "erupted" on a holiday flight after a tummy tuck was allegedly botched.
Patricia Jackson, 68, from Bridlington, was on a plane home from a week's holiday in Portugal when her belly button burst and began leaking foul-smelling fluid, causing another passenger to complain.
Mrs Jackson, the manager of a residential care home, has now received more than £20,000 in compensation after suffering "years of pain and embarrassment" as a result of cosmetic surgery.
She underwent the tummy tuck operation in 2005, when she was 60, because she was unhappy with the way she looked. She had lost weight and was self-conscious about saggy skin and fat on her stomach.
The abdominoplasty was performed at a private hospital in the Midlands. Surgeons removed extra skin and fat and tightened the muscles in the abdominal wall, but they did not create a new belly button because there was not enough material left over, a common occurrence in this type of surgery.
But solicitors claimed doctors failed to realise Mrs Jackson's old belly button had been left inside her, despite numerous scans and hospital investigations.
Mrs Jackson said: "For the first year after the operation, everything was fine and I went to work as normal.
"However, I was due for a yearly check-up and it was during this time that the surgeon was concerned about the scarring because it looked quite bad. It didn't really bother me but he admitted me to hospital overnight."
An ultrasound scan allegedly revealed an infection under the scar, which was treated with antibiotics. The wound was dressed and drained and Mrs Jackson was then discharged from hospital.
After returning home, Mrs Jackson said she began to experience pain and an unexplained foul-smelling discharge from her abdomen, which left her feeling self-conscious.
She was referred to several specialists at the Scarborough and Bridlington & District hospitals. However, solicitors said the cause of the discharge was incorrectly blamed on an infected stitch.
In 2011, Mrs Jackson felt confident enough to go on holiday to Portugal. Before catching the return flight, she noticed blisters where her old belly button would have been.
After she boarded the plane, her belly button unexpectedly burst and the area around it began to leak, causing the passenger next to her to complain about the smell. An air stewardess dressed the wound but Mrs Jackson was left feeling tearful and embarrassed.
When the plane landed, she called her brother to take her immediately to Calderdale Royal Hospital in Halifax, where the wound was treated.
She declined the offer of returning to the hospital where she had the surgery, instead choosing Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham. There, it was discovered that her old belly button was still inside her and had broken down, causing the pain and leaking.
After undergoing reconstructive surgery, Mrs Jackson was given a new belly button.
In January this year, she was awarded £22,500 in compensation. She says she has come forward now to raise awareness of the potential risks of having cosmetic surgery.
Jeanette Aspinall, head of medical negligence at Fletchers Solicitors, said: "This case highlights how easy it is for an everyday cosmetic surgery procedure, like a tummy tuck, to go wrong, both with the surgery itself and if the proper after-care is not administered.
"Mrs Jackson had the operation to gain confidence, and instead was subjected to years of pain and embarrassment.
"While Mrs Jackson is happy with the final result of the case after years of anger, she is now understandably fearful of undergoing any further surgery, should she need it in the future.
"She is now keen to put this incident behind her and highlight to others the problems of not receiving the proper after-care after cosmetic surgery."
Mrs Jackson said: "I was angry when I first contacted Fletchers Solicitors because I felt that I had been neglected by the hospital and the surgeon, and it wasn't fair.
"I was extremely pleased with the compensation.
"The result of my case means that awareness has been raised and it can hopefully change patient care in the future."
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