A 24-year-old French business student has died by suicide following a catastrophic beard transplant procedure in Turkey that was performed by an estate agent posing as a surgeon.
A Fatal Search for Confidence
Mathieu Vigier Latour was just 24 years old when he travelled to a clinic in Istanbul for a beard transplant in late 2025. The procedure cost approximately €1,300 (£1,082), a fraction of the price he would have paid in his home country of France. His father, Jacques Vigier Latour, said Mathieu felt reassured because the clinic displayed official approval from the Turkish health ministry.
Tragically, the operation was a failure. During the surgery, 4,000 hair grafts were taken from the back of Mathieu's scalp to be implanted on his face. Shockingly, the clinician lost 1,000 of these grafts. The result was a disfigured appearance that caused immense psychological distress.
The Devastating Aftermath
"When it started to grow out, it looked like a hedgehog. It was unmanageable," his father told BFM TV, via The Telegraph. He described the beard as irregular, poorly planned, and growing at unnatural angles. Mathieu also suffered burns from the procedure and experienced severe discomfort that disrupted his sleep.
In his despair, Mathieu researched the practitioner and made a horrifying discovery: the person who operated on him was not a qualified surgeon but an estate agent. The family sought help from a specialist in Belgium to correct the damage, but the doctor concluded the donor area on Mathieu's scalp was irreparably harmed.
Mathieu subsequently developed post-traumatic shock and severe body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), a mental health condition involving an obsessive focus on perceived flaws in one's appearance. "He entered a vicious circle and couldn't get out," his father said.
A Father's Warning on Medical Tourism Dangers
Three months after the initial operation, Mathieu took his own life in his student accommodation in Paris. His father is now speaking out, hoping to prevent similar tragedies by highlighting the hidden risks of cut-price medical tourism.
"If this testimony could prevent this from happening again and alert everyone, I think that would be a tribute to Mathieu," Jacques Vigier Latour stated.
This case emerges alongside other reports of life-altering cosmetic surgery failures. In a separate incident, 57-year-old Mark Sweeney from Glasgow claims a hair transplant procedure left him with massive purple scars, forcing him to quit his job as a waiter due to anxiety and depression over his appearance. He paid £3,500 for the treatment at a UK clinic.
The tragic death of Mathieu Vigier Latour underscores the critical importance of thorough research and verification of medical credentials, especially when seeking cosmetic procedures abroad. It serves as a stark reminder that the pursuit of aesthetic improvement can sometimes lead to irreversible physical and psychological consequences.
