Missing boy’s mother calls for action over breast implants

Kerry Needham, whose son Ben was snatched on the Greek island of Kos 20 years ago, aged 21 months, who had PIP implants in 2004, says she feels like a “ticking time bomb” with the silicon inside her and is speaking out in the hope of raising awareness.

Her comments came as campaigners from different parts of Yorkshire prepare to protest in Leeds city centre on Saturday over the private sector response to the revelations that poor quality silicon had been used by the French makers of the implants.

Ms Needham, from Sheffield, received her implants in a private £3,850 operation, paid for by her parents. The stress of dealing with her son’s disappearance had a dramatic effect and her weight plummeted and she lost weight off her breasts. She wanted the operation to feel more womanly and reclaim confidence.

She hopes to have her implants removed and replaced. She said: “Just the actual thought that you have got something inside your body that just should not be there is really, really frightening.”

The company that fitted her implants has agreed to see her but an appointment was cancelled and she does not yet have another.

She says she and other supporters that she has spoken to do not feel the NHS should have to foot the bill. She added: “The Government should be putting pressure on these private companies to do something.”

About 40,000 women in the UK received implants made by the now-closed French company Poly Implant Prostheses (PIP).

Health Secretary Andrew Lansley has been calling on private clinics to honour the “duty of care” they owe patients after the Government offered free removals to those affected.

Some private firms, including the one used by Ms Needham, have agreed to remove PIP implants free of charge, but not replace them.