A former model who was left in agony when a breast implant ruptured has launched a justice campaign for victims of the PIP scandal.
Stunning Vanessa Halstead, 29, has just undergone an operation to have her implants privately replaced after suffering months of physical pain and mental anguish.
She received implants from Surgicare in Manchester to boost her from a B/C Cup to a DD in 2004 to improve her figure after competitive swimming left her "looking very broad".
But problems began to appear last October when Vanessa noticed something was not normal with her right breast.
Vanessa, of Nelson, Lancs, said: "It went really big, not quite the size of my head, but not far off.
"I went for a spray tan and thought it looked swollen. I always try to keep fit and a few days later I went out for a run and as soon as I set off the pain was unbearable."
Unaware that her implants were PIP and at risk of failing, Vanessa did not envisage the trauma that lay ahead - trauma that has affected many other woman.
The now-defunct French company Poly Implant Prothese filled its implants with industrial grade silicone, that is normally used in mattresses, and the NHS said there was not enough evidence to remove implants, unless a woman's health was at risk.
Vanessa launched "Justice For PIP Victims" because she felt hopelessly let-down by the Manchester clinic that fitted her implants in 2004.
She said: "When they were fitted, I was led to believe that my implants were covered for 10 years but after the rupture was diagnosed at Burnley General Hospital I was told that the company that put them in had gone into administration.
"I had only had my implants in for eight years, but the company who had taken over did not take over patient liability and had lost my notes.
"No-one takes the decision to undergo cosmetic surgery lightly. I did a lot of research and gathered as much information as I could before going ahead and still ended up in this situation through no fault of my own, at the end of the day it is an operation you are undergoing."
The Justice For PIP Victims campaign is calling for tighter regulation of breast augmentation and the cosmetic surgery industry.
It is also demanding compensation for women who suffer trauma and distress caused by their implants rupturing and the painstaking process of trying to get them replaced.
It is also putting pressure on the NHS to increase its "half-hearted" offer to remove implants - and provide free replacements to prevent women suffering from depression and self-image problems.
The campaign has been backed by several leading cosmetic surgeons who have stepped in to help and advise women across the UK left feeling "scared and abandoned" by the scandal.
Spokesman for the group, consultant plastic surgeon Peter Paterson, who trained at Kings College Hospital Medical School, said: "There is so much fear and confusion around that we felt it was time to act to give women the facts about PIP as well as give them clear guidance as to what their options are. We are right behind Vanessa and her campaign."
Vanessa has said that she wants to give women worried about their implants the support that she did not receive when she first discovered something was wrong.
She said: "The situation I was put in was so traumatic as I discovered my implants were ruptured before this all hit the media so I did not know where to turn or what to do.
"These girls will be so scared and will not know which way to turn, and I want to be able to provide them with advice on what to do next.
"I have lived and breathed the whole situation so I know what these girls should do and want to help them."
For more information about Vanessa's campaign, visit www.justice4pipvictims.co.uk.
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