28-05-2025
EXCLUSIVE 'We deserve justice, we did not agree to have mattress filler in our breasts': My implants ruined my life and now I'm fighting for women like me for compensation
At the age of 31, Amanda Carter fulfilled her teenage dream and went under the knife to get breast implants.
It was an insecurity the Durham native had battled with for decades and thanks to a private Harley Street surgeon, she was finally happy with her figure.
But just a few years later, the former personal assistant, now, 42, found herself in agonising pain and discomfort and was unable to continue work.
She discovered that her breast implants were in fact made of industrial-grade silicone and she had the equivalent of mattress stuffing floating around her body.
Nine years and six operations later, Amanda had the devastating mistake rectified but her battle wasn't over.
Despite joining a law suit, Amanda claims the mishandling of her claim will mean she will owe thousands of euros to a French court when her case is officially dismissed.
And Amanda is not alone, speaking exclusively to Femail, she and others share their stories.
'Mattress filler'
In 2010 it emerged that French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) had been making substandard breast implants from industrial-grade rather than medical-grade silicone since 2001.
The cheaper, industrial-grade silicone, used for mattress filling and car seats was found to have a high splitting rate and many of the women affected worldwide battled seepage and leaking, resulting in silicone floating around their bodies.
But it was only in 2009 that the UK regulatory body was made aware of several medical claims.
Despite the urgent warnings, surgeons were only told to stop using PIP's industrial-grade silicone breast implants and to begin informing women who had received them in 2010.
The scandal affected roughly 300,000 women in as many as 65 countries, from Europe to South America including France, the UK, Venezuela and Brazil.
In 2017 the German safety body TUV Rheinland was found liable for the global PIP implant scandal having signed off the breast implants despite never testing their safety.
The company was ordered by a French court in to pay £52million (60million euros) to 20,000 women who received the implants.
The medical company's founder, Jean-Claude Mas, was sentenced to four years in prison for fraud in 2013 and died in 2019.
Amanda's story
In 2002, high-flying PA Amanda decided to have a boob job, undergoing the procedure to increase her confidence.
She said: 'I wanted to feel more feminine, more confident in my body and clothing as well.
'Because I was rounder by nature in the bottom part of my body and completely flat up top, so I couldn't wear dresses and when it came to being intimate, I felt very boyish and I used to try and keep myself covered up, so it was more of a self esteem thing.'
Amanda explained that she completed extensive research before going in for the operation.
'Believe it or not, I looked in to the risks and I knew the potential risks of having breast implants - that they could rupture or collapse.
'And I knew it was an ongoing cost that they would need to be changed at some point, but I never for one second thought that they would be filled with industrial grade silicone and that I would be so ill.'
In 2009, the London-based office worker's health deteriorated significantly and she found herself utterly exhausted, sleeping all weekend and unable to concentrate at work as well as sharp, stabbing pain.
She said: 'I had problems for the first few years but then around 2009, 2010 I started getting intermittent pain.
'Over several years the pain was very intense, shooting pains going from across my nipple to my armpit.'
And then the news hit.
'I didn't think anything of it at first,' she said, 'but then it hung around in the news and so one day I just though "Oh, I'll just email my surgeon, I won't have had that",' she said.
Amanda was told that she was one of the thousands of women affected and was shocked.
Broken promises
Amanda tried to explore compensation options but found there was no support in the UK.
In the meantime her surgeon had removed her implants and replaced them free of charge but there was still no way for her to claim damages.
But in 2014 she saw an advert for the UK-based company Stanton Fisher who said they were accepting claims from women with defective implants.
The company, which is no longer active, was not a law firm but instead collected information on behalf of French lawyer, Olivier Aumaître in conjunction with Irish solicitor David Coleman, processing claims before they went to court.
Amanda was told they had already helped hundred of women in France and if she joined a class action suit she would receive an interim payment within six weeks before receiving full compensation in 12 to 18 months.
All Amanda had to do was prove that she had had a particular type of implant.
But it wasn't until three years later in 2017 that the struggling former PA finally received her interim payment of €3,000 along with the news that she and hundreds of others had won their claim.
'Negligent' legal representatives
But Amanda's jubilation was short-lived and she quickly found out that TUV Rheinland had appealed some of the decisions because Stanton Fisher and Mr Aumaître had failed to prove that her implants had been part of those affected.
As a result hundred of claims was deemed inadmissible.
Not only had the women's court battle reached a dead end, but they discovered that any interim payment would be liable to be returned in the event of a successful appeal by TUV.
Those affected were furious and many believe their claims have been rejected due to negligence on the part of Stanton Fisher and the French lawyer.
Amanda explained that many women had provided all the information they were asked for and hadn't been informed that they would need to give more.
She said: 'When we first signed up, the level of evidence we had at the time and gave to Stanton Fisher to submit was fine.
'But some women had obtained additional evidence over the years and some had provided it to Stanton and Fisher and some had provided it directly to the lawyer and it was on his computer system.
'And he did nothing with it. In that three-year period where it was being challenged, he did not take that evidence and give it to the court.'
When Amanda challenged Mr Aumaître, she claims she was told that the lawyer had simply run out of time and had been unable to process all the information sent to him.
At this point some Amanda, along with several other women changed lawyers.
'We'd had enough', she said. 'We signed up with an alternative legal firm.
In 2021 a Paris court ruled that some victims of the PIP breast implant scandal would be compensated and Mr Aumaitre said the court ruling was hugely important for thousands of victims.
'We will probably reach a turning point,' said Mr Aumaitre.
'A positive decision will probably put an end to the long period of doubt we've been going through during so many years.' However, the women MailOnline spoke to said that they were not included in that court victory and are still fighting for compensation.
In that same judgement, a French court dismissed permanently dismissed many of the victims of PIP breast implants.
Amanda said that as a result, hundreds of women have no way to claim compensation they are owed.
She said: 'He [Mr Aumaître] failed those women, he was negligent in his handling of the case.
'Not telling these women that their cases were being challenged. He was negligent in not giving them the opportunity to provide the evidence the court wanted them to give.
It's all a 'money making scheme'
Amanda has also claimed that the 'negligent' handling of the legal cases has resulted in thousands of women fearing for their financial futures.
Amanda, who speaks on behalf of thousands of women affected by PIPs told MailOnline that she was initially brought on board with the promise of a no-win-no-fee deal with the caveat that an admin fee could be deducted if an interim payment was made.
Having found out that her case will be dismissed because her implants were put in before the cut off date, Amanda will now be liable to pay back the €3,000 compensation - despite only ever receiving €2,425 - to TUV Rhineland, money she had originally used to rectify continuing issues caused by her faulty breast implants.
The news came as a shock especially because Mr Aumaître and Stanton Fisher had offered their services on an initially free basis.
The claims group said they would not charge any up front fees but having gathered the information, they said that Amanda was still liable for the services.
Although she has not been asked to repay it, it's only a matter of time before there are bailiffs at her door.
Amanda said: 'Win or lose, they were going to make money because the service they provided, they are duty bound to be paid for it and it's resulted in these women having their case dismissed and owing money - how is that a service?'.
She slammed Mr Aumaître, saying: 'He's now put the women in a very financially difficult position that they should never have been put in.'
'He has 100 per cent seen this as a money making scheme that he was going to make millions, win or lose, regardless of the consequences.
'He's never been transparent with the women,' she added.
Amanda confessed she's worried about her future and has no way to repay the money she has found out she owes.
She confessed: 'I haven't got that money. I'm disabled. I'm on disability benefits.
'I don't know how the f**k I'm going to pay it. I've got nobody I can borrow money off and I just do not know how I will cope because they're under obligations now to accept payment arrangement but I don't know how that would work for me.
Speaking of her fight against Stanton Fisher and Mr Aumaître she said: 'At the end of the day we deserve justice. We deserve justice against those who have wronged us.
'Some people may ridicule us but at the end of the day we agreed to have medical grade silicone in our bodies not industrial.'
Louise's story
Louise Bowery, 46, had her boob job in March 2008 at the age of 29 following the birth of her two children.
She said she was 'sold the dream' with her implants and was excited for her new lease of life.
Initially Louise said she was 'astounded' with the operation, but when the PIP scandal broke in 2010 she returned to her clinic and was told she did have the affected implants but that they were safe and she didn't need to worry.
But in 2019, Louise's health rapidly deteriorated and she found herself exhausted.
'I'd got pains in my arms, in my legs, in my face, in my jaw,' she said. 'Sort of all like kind of where your lymphatic area is.'
And the Yorkshire native confessed that her health was becoming such a distraction that she was almost disciplined at work in her role in HR for a retail giant.
After a breast cancer scare and a routine mammogram, Louise was informed that her breast implant had ruptured and her lymatic system was flooded with the industrial-grade material and the lump that had first worried her was in fact a dense area of silicone.
Because of the rupture, Louise's broken implant was removed on the NHS and surgeons revealed its burst seam and mouldy contents to her.
Following the removal of her breast implants Louise continued to struggle with her health and seek compensation, joining Stanton Fisher's PIP scheme and giving over all her details.
But Stanton Fisher failed to tell Louise that she needed proof in the form of a PIP carrier card to identify her specific implant type which unfortunately for the mother-of-two, she did not have.
Under the impression that her case was moving through the French courts, Louise gave in to pressure from the company and paid a fee of €575 for an expert who would look over her case to confirm her eligibility for compensation.
Louise said she has never received that expert report and sent over the large payment even after the claims firm and Mr Aumaître knew her case would not be admissible
She said: 'I paid for the expert fee. I paid all the expert fees and everything after he knew that I wouldn't be admissible because I was never given my PIP carrier cards.'
The mother-of-two described the whole experience as traumatic and said she's disappointed that she won't receive any financial recompense.
'It's it's been very traumatic,' she said. 'And even now it's still a bit of a kick in the teeth to know that we're not going to get anywhere now, because we haven't got the correct documentation.
'I've chased and chased and chased and chased, and with no record, even though I've got a letter from the hospital stating that I've got PIPs and I've had a surgeon's report that's removed PIP implants.'
Despite having both implants removed, the former corporate manager turned baker is still struggling with the effects of her decision to go under the knife almost twenty years ago and the silicone found in her left breast has now spread to the right side of her body.
She added she's angry with Mr Aumaître and suggested that he was only in it for the money.
'I'm so disappointed and I'll say it loud and proud, he's spending that money on his yachts and summer holidays while we're sat here suffering.
'I'm never going to get rid of this silicon out of my body, and eventually, who knows what will happen in the future?', she said.
Gill's story
Gill Tyas, 65, had her breast implants put in to boost her confidence in 2006.
The former support worker for adults with autism from Rotherham, paid roughly £2,700 for her operation and despite some numbness on her left side, was pleased with the results of her new 34B breasts.
But five years later she discovered she had been given the faulty implants after hearing an advert on the radio on her drive to work.
'I think it was 2011, and I was going to work one day and it came on radio in car, "If you've got PIP implants, contact Stanton Fisher", and I went back to my clinic and checked and I did have them and I was very upset at this point.'
Gill had her implants removed on the NHS as fast as possible but was upset with the results.
After having new implants fitted and being given the medical history of her breast operations, she contacted Stanton Fisher who came to her home straight away to gather information on her case.
Gill explained that she was so relieved that someone was taking the issue seriously but she soon changed her mind after she got a letter explaining that her claim was inadmissible because she hadn't had the affected implants.
'I was so disappointed but they [Stanton Fisher] said we would go back to court and fight it. I thought, "How can this happen?" Because I've got proof, I've got the serial number. I paid the €500-odd for an expert and I'd received the interim payment so I thought they must know I've got PIPs.'
She added: 'But I was inadmissible. And then the real shock came when we were told that that's it, they're not fighting it anymore. That's it. End of.'
Gill was shocked and reached out to women on Facebook who were in a similar position to find out if there was anything that could be done.
She explained: 'I've spoken to people on Facebook on this and some people are like me. They've got proof, and they're inadmissible.
'It's just been really wrong. They [Stanton Fisher] told us they didn't have time to look at all these people to to group them. It would have taken X amount of time, and so they couldn't have possibly looked at everybody's.'
Gill is now being asked for the interim payment of €3,000 back but before she considers paying it, she has been regularly contacting Stanton Fisher for a refund of the €575 expert fee which she claims was not used for an expert because she has been wrongly dismissed.
'You were quick enough to grope me inadmissible when I'm not,' she said, 'You've had my €500 for far too long and I want it back.'
The retiree added that she's not even thought about how she will pay back the interim payment because she used her interim payment from all those years ago to help fund new breast implants which, she added, didn't even cover the full cost of the operation.
Gill said she was angry with Stanton Fisher and Mr Aumaître for not processing her claim properly and is furious she will never see any compensation.
The former care worker added that she's one of the lucky ones because her implants remained intact but she was still left with the worry for years.
She said: 'I know some were unlucky and the implants ruptured. Mine didn't. But it doesn't excuse the fact that they put industrial silicone in my body.'
MailOnline has contacted Mr Aumaître for comment.
Amanda, Louise and Gill and thousands have now signed up with Ngo Jung & Partners, a Paris law firm to pursue a professional negligence claim against Mr Aumaître.
Gregory Levy, an avocat said 'We are actively investigating professional negligence claims against the lawyers who let these women down. After 11 years embroiled in a very stressful legal battle, it is inexcusable that these women have had their claims disallowed through no fault of their own.'
Speaking about the development in their case, Amanda said: 'It is high time these women get the justice they deserve, and we will leave no stone unturned in our investigations.'
