Coronation Street’s Bethany Platt (played by Lucy Fallon) will suffer a life-changing trauma when a cosmetic procedure in Turkey goes disastrously wrong, leaving her with a permanent stoma.

Coronation Street’s beloved Bethany Platt, played by Lucy Fallon, is set to face a life-changing ordeal. The plot thickens when Bethany jets off to Turkey for what should’ve been some simple liposuction at a clinic she is promoting in an advertorial, but fate has other plans when the surgery goes spectacularly pear-shaped.

The drama hits boiling point as poor Bethany fights for her life after catching sepsis from the botched job, which results in her needing a stoma permanently. It all kicks off with an unsuspecting Bethany twiddling her thumbs at the new clinic in Turkey after being handpicked for the role by none other than Debbie Webster (Sue Devaney).

With no surgery confessions to her travel insurance, the Platts are then thrown into chaos, scrambling for cash so Bethany can come home.

In a bid to get it right, Coronation Street bosses have teamed up with Colostomy UK, giving the plot the TLC it needs to hit home. Giovanni Cinque from Colostomy UK said about the storyline: “We’re really excited that one of the UK’s most loved TV shows is going to feature a major character living with a stoma,” reports the Liverpool Echo.

“Even though public awareness has grown considerably over the last few years thanks to a number of celebrities revealing they have had surgery, the challenges that the 200,000 plus people living with a stoma in the UK face are less known, which means that we as a society and as individuals are not as aware as we should be of the choices that we can make to positively improve their quality of life.

“We really hope that Bethany’s journey will go a long way in helping to educate the audience, and thus help to create a more Stoma Aware UK. It’s also been a pleasure for us to work with the behind-the-scenes teams at Coronation Street on this story.”

Lucy expressed her thoughts on her upcoming storyline, stating: ” When I first heard about it I was pleased that they have trusted me with it because it’s an important storyline and of course, I really enjoy doing issue-based storylines. Obviously, this is really hard-hitting, which is exciting from an actor’s point of view, but it does come with quite a lot of pressure and responsibility to get it right because this happens to real-life people.

“The storyline is also incredibly important as there are countless horror stories out there of people talking about their experiences of cosmetic surgery abroad. I really hope this storyline can make people rethink going abroad for cosmetic surgery.”

The narrative emerges amid a marked increase in UK patients seeking repairs following disastrous cosmetic procedures done overseas.

A 2023 study revealed a shocking 94 percent increase in the number of Brits needing hospital treatment after undergoing cosmetic surgery abroad over a three-year period. The majority of these procedures were carried out in Turkey.

The research also highlighted an alarming rise in patients returning to the UK with complications, from wound healing issues to life-threatening sepsis. In a related development, Coronation Street decided to feature a character living with a stoma bag, reflecting the reality for over 200,000 people in the UK.

Each year, the NHS performs between 13,500 and 21,000 operations resulting in stomas.

Coronation Street airs Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 8pm on ITV.