A 24-year-old French student, Mathieu Vigier Latour, tragically took his own life after a botched beard transplant in Istanbul, Turkey — a procedure shockingly carried out by an estate agent posing as a surgeon.
Mathieu had travelled to Turkey in March, drawn by the clinic’s low €1,300 cost — far cheaper than in France — and its apparent Turkish health ministry approval. However, the transplant went horribly wrong. Of the 4,000 grafts taken from his scalp, 1,000 were lost during the procedure.
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The resulting beard was patchy and unnatural, with hair growing at odd angles. His father, Jacques Vigier Latour, said Mathieu suffered from burns, insomnia, and immense emotional pain. Later, the family discovered that the man behind the surgery wasn’t even a medical professional.
Though a specialist in Belgium tried to repair the damage, he confirmed the scalp area would never fully heal. Mathieu spiraled into post-traumatic shock and developed severe body dysmorphic disorder.
Three months after the operation, he died by suicide in his Paris student residence.
His father now speaks out to warn others about the risks of unregulated cosmetic tourism. “If this testimony can help prevent one more tragedy, it would be a tribute to Mathieu,” he said.
