My £15k ‘mummy makeover’ to fix droopy boobs nearly killed me…I ‘died’ on operating table & saw my lifeless body below

LOOKING down at her own body and watching doctors desperately fight to bring her back to life, Nicole Grigorov experienced an eerie sense of detachment from her physical body. Days earlier she had been wheeled into surgery for what she had hoped would be a life-changing £15,000 tummy tuck and breast lift- but it had gone terribly wrong. Nicole Grigorov has been dubbed ‘the unluckiest woman in the world’ by friends after multiple dices with death Credit: Supplied After a ‘mummy makeover’ operation, she needed her fingers and toes amputated and nearly died on the operating table Credit: Supplied She had developed a severe infection following the op that led to septic shock and multi-organ failure but now she was fighting for her life – and shockingly could see herself in the hospital bed. She was in an induced coma and had been placed on a life-support machine. Sign up for the Fabulous newsletter Thank you! Her organs were failing and she was in a critical condition. Nicole, now 53, had booked the ‘mummy makeover op’ at a Central American clinic in October 2025 after separating from her ex and feeling down about weighing 16st 4lb. Unhappy being a size 18, she hit the gym and dropped down to 12 stone 11 and a size 14. She says: “But losing weight left me with drooping boobs and a flabby belly. Feeling insecure, I started researching ‘mummy makeovers.’” She excitedly booked the £15k op, but it didn’t go as expected, and upon waking from a coma Nicole was understandably traumatised. Nicole, who doesn’t blame the hospital, says: “As nurses peeled the bandages off my hands I burst into tears. Most read in Fabulous “They were like witches’ fingers. They were dried up, black and needed to be removed.” She had all her fingers and toes amputated. “Recovery was tough,” she added. “I could not do anything for myself initially. “After a few weeks in rehab, I learnt to lean on the backs of my feet for balance when I walked and I started using my thumb to hold my phone and feed myself.” The October 2025 incident was shockingly not the first time she had survived a near-death encounter. The mum, from Ontario, Canada, also survived a termination while in the womb, treading on a wasps’ nest and going into life-threatening anaphylactic shock, a near-drowning and being thrown off a horse. She says: “Some people think I am the unluckiest person in the world, and I have to agree, not many people have as many brushes with death that I have.” She said: “It was traumatic for her, but she made the decision to end the pregnancy. The procedure was carried out, and she didn’t know why it did not work, but she found that she was still pregnant afterwards. Her first escape from death happened in 1973 when her mum, who died in 2010, attempted to abort her. She said: “It was traumatic for her, but she made the decision to end the pregnancy. The procedure was carried out, and she didn’t know why it did not work, but she found that she was still pregnant afterwards. The mum had to relearn to walk and eat post the amputations of all of her digits Credit: Supplied Nicole, with a friend, considers herself ‘lucky’ to have bounced back from so mean near-death experiences Credit: Supplied “She was too far gone by now, so she decided to carry on and have me. I totally understand mum’s decision about it, and I do not feel traumatised by knowing about it.” Aged two, she was at the beach in Ontario, Canada, with her sister when another near-death experience happened. She recalled: “I was in the sea, and suddenly I was struggling to catch my breath as my lungs filled with water. I felt someone lift me out of the sea and lay me on the sand. “I managed to open my eyes and my sister was towering over me. She was screaming, ‘Nicole.’ “Nearly drowning at the beach became my first childhood memory. I was taken to hospital for them to check me over, and then I was allowed home.” Two years after the beach incident, Nicole was pushing her dolly in a little carriage in the woods near her home when suddenly wasps were “swarming everywhere”. She remembered: “I was on my own, I was just near the house, and mum had told me not to stray too far, so I stayed in the trees just near our home. But I had managed to step on a nest. “The pain was incredible. It felt like my body was on fire as the pain seemed to erupt everywhere as the wasps stung me on my legs, arms, neck and face. “I was screaming for help and I had to be rushed to hospital suffering from anaphylactic shock. “Doctors said I was lucky to be alive and I was treated with adrenaline, oxygen and fluids.” But it was not the end of her run of extreme bad luck. The mum with her daughters, who have helped her through her recovery Credit: Supplied Nicole has actually dodged death multiple times during her life Credit: Supplied A few years later she was at home when she accidentally shoved her hand through the glass of our front door. She said “My brother and I were messing around play-fighting by our front door and I flung my arm out and accidentally put my hand through the glass. “Fragments pierced my skin, cutting into my wrists and spraying blood everywhere. Paramedics rushed me to hospital. “I lost a lot of blood and needed stitches but somehow I survived. My family joked I was like a ‘cat with nine lives.'” Thankfully the next few decades went by without any drama. In January 1997, hotel owner Nicole met her former partner and had four children. In December 2012 they all went horse riding near their home in Ontario. As she mounted a horse a gunshot from a nearby hunter rang out and the horse bucked, throwing her off and onto some rocks. She said: “A few hours later, I came round in hospital with a huge bump on my head and broken shoulder, but I was lucky that it was not worse.” It was then she began to feel “cursed” – but now she feels lucky to be alive, and has always tried to remain positive, despite everything she’s been through. Despite losing her fingers, she says: “Now I can even drive. Life is still a struggle, but I refuse to see myself as a victim. “I have just opened a second-hand clothes store. I have a new partner and wonderful kids. “Some people say I must be the unluckiest woman alive, but I know I am lucky for getting so many chances at this wonderful life. “I feel certain the best is yet to come.” Comment now